Danganronpa: Crimes Against Hope & Despair
by Orlando Butler
Summary: Sixteen wayward ultimate students, who've traversed down the path that society deems wrong wake up in "Saibakuma's Correctional Institute for the Gifted Troublemaker", with no idea how they got there. Will they be able to stay strong and move past their inner demons, or will they be "justly" punished for their transgressions? Court is now in session! (SYOC CLOSED)
1. Prologue: Locked Away

"GOD DAMNIT! OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR ALREADY! I SWEAR TO GOD I'M KICKING YOUR ASS WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE! WHOEVER YOU ARE!

The boy's voice was getting horse from all the screaming he'd been doing. His hands were raw from slamming on the reinforced door to his room. The overhead light was flickering as he leaned against the door and slowly slid down it. He let out a vicious cough. All the yelling he'd been doing had damaged his throat. He fiddled with the bracelet of his wrist before he staggering to his feet.

He swayed towards the grimy toilet in the corner of his room as if he were possessed. He fell to his knees and attempted to evacuate the contents of his stomach into the dirty bowl. He hadn't had anything eat for the last two days, so it was more just a fit of dry heaving. A thought suddenly occurred to him.

 _Two days… Has it been two day? It couldn't be more than that, could it?_

He'd been getting water bottle on the hour, but he couldn't remember the last time that he had ate anything. On unsteady feet, he stood up, gripping the top of the toilet and trying not to have his legs buckle.

His emotions had been weighing on him since he woke up in the room he's currently in. He was angry at first; furious even. Being kidnapped and held hostage definitely wasn't on his bucket list, but that anger fizzled pretty quickly when he realized he wasn't going anywhere for the time being. He kept banging on the door and screaming at his captors, but the effort was fruitless.

He sat down on his messy bed and stared down at the cold looking concrete floor. He hated looking at the walls. The sterile white walls made him want to puke more than he already did. He ran his hands through his hair and rubbed his scalp in an attempt to get rid of his headache. He looked towards the door again and sighed.

"This is a fucking joke."

He stood up again and paced around the room. Back and forth. Back and forth. Over and over again. His breathing quickened and the tightness in his chest was growing worst.

"A fucking joke…" His voice trembled. "A joke. A…"

He turned on his heel's and ran towards the door and shoulder checked it. He then started slamming on the door again.

"LET ME OUT!" He almost roared, his voice breaking as he yelled. "THIS ISN'T RIGHT! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO PEOPLE!"

He kept pushing and punching at the door for another minute or so before the strain became to much and he tried to catch his breath. He felt like his throat was closing up. The air was extremely stale. Despite the hatred festering inside him for the people who locked him up, he couldn't escape the small voice talking to him inside of his head. The small voice telling him that he deserved this. That he deserved to be locked up.

After all, he was a criminal.

He let out a scream as he kicked one of his bed's legs clear off. It flew across the room and hit the wall. The bed banged against the floor with a thud. He kept kicking the bed, his fit of rage not slowing down. He went to the other side of the room and grabbed the bed leg. He skulked over towards the door with intent to maim, but he stopped when he noticed something where he picked up the leg. He squatted down to see what had fallen out of the hollow pipe.

A bullet.

 _10mm. round. What the fuck is this doing in…wait…what is this?_

As he twirled the bullet around in his finger, he turned it over and saw some words roughly engraved into it.

" _For Angus"_

 _Great. They know my name. Fucking brilliant._

As upsetting as finding this bullet was, it didn't really surprise Angus. Since he severely doubted the people who kidnapped him just took him because they could, it'd make sense that they know of his title as the Ultimate Arms Dealer. He knew all there was to know about guns.

 _I'm being mocked._

He put the bullet in his pocket and started hitting hid head off the wall. He despised feeling so trapped. He continued to quietly kick the wall like a chastised child. He didn't have it in him to scream anymore. He was about to go lay down on his now broken bed when he heard the old locks on the steel door to his room unlocking. He thought he was hallucinating for a moment, but that moment passed as quickly as it came, and he sprung back to life; vigor once again inside him.

He ran up to the door and slapped his hands against the unforgiving metal. "Please," he could barely get the words out his voice was hurting him so much. He felt tears welling in his eyes as hope of escape threatened to boil over inside him. "Let me out." The words came out as only a whisper as the door was flung open, flooding the room with more light.

* * *

 **And so, the garbage fire begins. I've never tackled a story like this before, so I'm hoping it'll get better as time goes on. Anyway, welcome to Crimes Against Hope & Despair! This story will focus on criminals and the concept as such. I'll go through the rules quickly.**

 **No Gary/Mary-stu's. I can't stand perfect characters who can do nothing wrong.**

 **Only two characters per person, but I'm going to do my best to only accept one character per person. This may change under certain circumstances.**

 **No characters through the reviews. Those characters will be ignored.**

 **When submitting your character, title the submission "CAH &D OC: (Character's Name)**

 **That covers it for the rules. Now the app.**

* * *

 **Name:**

 **Age:**

 **Gender:** (The farthest I'll do is nonbinary.)

 **Ultimate Talent:**

 **Sexuality:**

 **Height:**

 **Weight:**

 **Nationality:**

 **Ethnicity:**

 **Physical Appearance:** (Be detailed. Hair, eyes, hair style, body type, anything you can think of.)

 **Birthmarks/Tattoos/Scars/etc.:**

 **Casual Wear:**

 **Swimwear:**

 **Formal Wear:**

 **Sleep wear:**

 **Personality:** (Please be detailed. I need as much to work with as possible. I'm a sucker for a couple paragraphs.)

 **How're are they a criminal:** (This is easily the most important part of the app. This story is all about criminal. Every character in this story has to be a criminal one way or another. I'm very open on how you work that into their story. Are they a know criminal? Do they work from the shadows? What's their reasoning for doing it? Important reminder! Just because they are a criminal does not mean they necessarily have to be a bad person. I'm hoping for some diversity of personalities in the cast, all connected by the thin thread of criminal activity.)

 **Back Story:** (Same as personality. Talk about they got into criminal behavior and how they became the person they are now.)

 **Likes:** (At least three.)

 **Dislikes:** (Same as likes.)

 **People they'd get along with:**

 **People they'd dislike:**

 **Mannerisms/Quirks:**

 **Secret(s):**

 **Fear(s):**

 **Free Time Event Ideas:**

 **Victim/Survivor/Killer:**

 **Motives for murder:** (What would cause your character to snap and seriously consider murder?)

 **Justification for each:**

 **Mastermind justification:** (Would you want them to be the mastermind?)

 **Reaction to Killing Game:**

 **Reaction to body discovery:** (Both innocent and guilty.)

 **Role in investigation:** (Both innocent and guilty.)

 **Role in trial:** (Both innocent and guilty.)

 **Reaction seeing an execution:**

 **Possible execution ideas:**

 **Quotes:** (Just a couple of lines they would say so I can get an idea of how they talk.)

* * *

 **And that's it. I'll get the app up on my profile to copy and paste as quick as possible. I don't have a deadline for apps set yet; probably sometime in mid-October, but I'll keep you guys posted. Until then! I'll see you guys when I see you!**


	2. Prologue: Proper Exploration

Angus took a step back as the heavy door swung open, filling his room with a bright light. He squints, trying to let his eyes adjust to the new light. A tall silhouette stood in the door way. Angus felt panic engulf him as he stared at the person who'd opened his door. The two continued starring at each other. Angus' breath was ragged as he got to his knees. The figure took a step forward, entering the threshold of the room. Another moment passed before one of them spoke.

"Ty v poryadke?"

"W-what?"

Angus hated how weak he sounded right now, but he couldn't really help it. Not only was he very intimidated at the moment, but that…definitely wasn't English. The figure scoffed at his confusion. Angus could almost feel them rolling their eyes. Despite not speaking English, he could tell the figure was male. If his height wasn't enough of a dead giveaway, then his voice was. Though his voice wasn't very deep, it was still a few octaves lower than your typical girl.

"Get up."

 _RUSSIAN! I thought that's what that was! The accent gives you away, bud._

Angus slowly got to his feet. As he stood up he realized the real height difference between the two. Him, being 5'8", felt dwarfed by the other boys lanky yet tall figure. He looked to be about 6'. Angus still hadn't calmed down from his earlier anxiety attack. His fight or flight instincts were working in high gear at this point.

"Who…the fuck are you?" Angus chocked out.

"Could ask you…same thing." The other boy responded sharply. His English was rather broken.

Angus grinded his teeth together and thought about his next move. The kid didn't look like much, in fact, he seemed rather lanky. If he had any real muscle mass, it was obscured by his baggy clothes.

 _I can take him. He isn't shit. He could be one of the guys who put you here. How else would he be able to get the door unlocked?_

The boy looked behind him as if distracted for a moment. He shouldn't have taken his eyes off of Angus.

"Now…do you have any idea where we-,"

The Russian boy didn't get to finish his sentence before Angus rushed him. He used what power he had left to push himself into a sprint to close the gap between the two in less than a second. When he reached the boy, Angus grabbed him by the throat and used his momentum to almost carry him out into the hallway. The two slammed against the back wall and Angus could now see the other boys face clearly. He had long black messy hair with a few grey strands. It was kept in a pony tail that went to his mid back with a messy fringe. He also had on a dark green camo baseball cap. His left eye was a dark blue and his right was dark brown. His skin was fair; bordering on pale. He had black facial hair that resembles five o'clock shadow. He also had a small diagonal scar over his mouth. The boy's head hit the wall with a thud and he grunted in pain. Angus pushed his forearm into the Russians neck and his used his stocky form to pin him to the wall.

"Chto vy delayete!?" The boy's words were strained.

"English! Speak English! Who are you, and where the fuck am I!" Angus pushed his arm against the boys throat even harder, nearly strangling him in the process.

"What business…y-you have…chocking the p-person who saved you?" Despite how hard it was for the boy to talk, he still managed to sound calm under the pressure. That just made Angus even more frustrated.

"I'm not falling for that! I get locked up in a box for two days, and you expect me to trust the first person I see? Fuck that! Now tell me who you are!"

The other boy let out a long sigh. "I suggest…letting me go." Angus chuckled at the boy's confidence. "You really aren't in the position to make demands." The boy shut his eyes and rested his head against the wall.

"Last…chance."

The words were completely devoid of emotion. They were cold. Angus wanted nothing more than to let the boy go, but he couldn't risk it.

"Tell me who you are."

The silence was deafening. Neither boy said a word as they stood there in the hallway, one pinned against the other. Angus didn't have time to react as the taller boy's head flew forward and connected with his nose. He yelled out in pain as his grip loosened. The boy used the distraction to his advantage and lifted one leg up and planted his foot firmly on Angus' chest and booted him off. He stumbled back into his room and fell to the floor. He curled up in a ball while holding his nose, still belting out indiscriminate curses and just generally being loud. He moved his hands away and watched as blood tricked down from his face to the floor. He could already taste the blood on his lips. His nose was currently running like a faucet. He turned back to see the boy who did this to him standing in the doorway. He looked more irritated then anything.

"I told you…to let me go." The boy managed to say. His English wasn't very good, and he was obviously struggling to get the words out. He grabbed the door and began to shut it, but Angus' yells halted him.

"NO!" He pleaded, trying to clamber to his feet still clutching his nose. He stumbled to his knees, muttering incoherently. "Please don't lock me in! I'm s-sorry! Just don't lock me in again! Please!" Tears were streaming down his face and mixing with the pool of blood on the floor beneath him. The boy stopped closing the door and slowly made his way to the groveling mess in front of him. He was cautious, as if he were expecting Angus to jump at any second.

He kneels down in front of Angus and looks the damaged boy in the eye.

"My name…is Feliks Dobrow, and I am the Ultimate Hacker. Kak vas zovut?"

Though Angus couldn't understand Russian, he could tell that the sentence was phrased as a question. So, he took a wild guess at what the boy asked him.

"Angus. A-Angus Hutchinson. Ultimate…Ultimate Arms Dealer." The taller boy, Feliks, grabbed Angus by his arms and pulled him to his feet. "Angus," he spoke in the softest voice that he could muster for the moment. "I'm…not the one who has put you here. I woke up in room just like this. Just…like you."

Angus' nose had stopped bleeding by this point, but he still looked awful. He refused to drop his tough act despite being at the clear disadvantage. "Why…why should I trust you?"

Feliks had never seen a more defeated person in his life. Angus already looked terrible before Feliks released him, but now their standoff had left him even worse for wear. The majority of his mouth and chin were covered in his own blood and his black dress shirt was stained with the red liquid. Dry tear marks were very visible on his cheeks, and he could see the imprint that was left by his sneaker where he booted him. His eyes were baggy and sunken in, and his clothes were grungy. And yet, despite looking…rather pathetic if he was being honest, he still was trying to keep his act up. Feliks would be lying if he said he didn't respect the steely determination in the eyes of his recent acquaintance.

"Because…I'm all you have right now."

The two boys continued to stare at each other. Angus scoffed at Feliks' words. "Fine." The two walked out of the room and into the hallway. Now without the distraction of a fight, Angus has a chance to take in the Russian boy's wardrobe. Feliks was wearing a dark brown long sleeved sweater with a dark green short sleeved t-shirt underneath with a video game character on the front, a dark grey hoodie left unzipped with white codes and numbers on the front part of the hoodie, dark blue jeans, black and white running sneakers on his feet, a pair of black wireless headphones around his neck and a black wrist watch on his left wrist. He also got to take in the hallway. Stark white; just like his room. It could be described as…minimalist.

The hall was small. The only thing in it were four grey metal doors, and that included his own. At the end of the hall was another door, but that one was more residential looking then the doors to the rooms. Feliks walks over to the door that was on the right side of Angus'.

"I was…in here." He said.

Angus walks over to what he now new as Feliks' room and looked inside. It looked identical to his own room, sans the broken bed.

"Who let you out?"

"Kakiye?"

Angus turned towards Feliks. "You're room. Who let you out of your room?" Feliks paused to think before answering. "I…don't know. I was…locked…in room, like you. Door opened, but when I went to check nobody was there. I hear banging…on door. Open it, and I'm attacked by YOU." He said, his last sentence filled with spite. Angus cringed at the sting behind his words. He looked between the two doors yet to be explored. The one to the right of Feliks' room, and the last room in the hallway, had its door wide open. The room to the left of Angus' room, and the one closest to what they believed to be the exit, still had its door shut.

"That's…uh…that's all you know?" Angus mumbled, having a hard time looking Feliks in the eye. "You haven't been in either of these rooms?"

"Net. I heard your banging and unlocked the door. That's it."

Angus looked towards the open door and then back at Feliks. "Well, now we know where to look first."

The boys walked over to the open room and peered inside. The room was in shambles. The mattress was thrown to the side and the bed frame was snapped in half. The toilet seat had been ripped from the toilet and shattered into pieces. The bed sheet was wadded and tossed into the back corner, and the lightbulb from the overhead light had been shattered.

"Whoever was in here…is not in here anymore." Feliks said, looking over the destruction.

Angus glared at him. "Really? What tipped you off, bud? The broken toilet seat, or maybe the broken bed frame?" He said, being as sarcastic as he could manage.

"Mudak." Feliks grumbled.

"I don't know what that means but fuck you too."

The two then walked towards the other room they hadn't explored yet. The shut door allowed Angus to see what had kept him locked up. The only locks on the door were two large metal latches. That was it. There was no lock on the handle to speak of, just two cartoonish sized latches that were currently unlatched. Angus reached for the handle, but he hesitated. Feliks noticed the hesitation.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know," Angus whispered, his breaths heaving and heavy. "Just…nervous all of a sudden, I guess. We don't know what's behind this door, man! It could be a dude like me who'll come out swinging!"

Feliks sighed and patted Angus on the shoulder in an attempt to encourage him. "Open it. I am…right behind you." The arms dealer looked back at the hacker and felt a bout of confidence swell within him. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He started hopping from one foot to the other in order to psych himself up. "Alright. Alright, I got this. This is fine."

In one swift movement, Angus swung the metal door wide open. They stared at the vacant room with wide eyes. The room was immaculate. The bed was perfectly made, and not a single thing was out of place. The two stood surprised, and also slightly demoralized. Angus' shoulders slumped in defeat and Feliks awkwardly stuffed his hands into his hoodie pockets.

"Well, shit," Angus huffed. "Now I feel stupid."

Feliks chuckled to himself and turned towards the exit, Angus by his side. The two stared down the door, fearing the worst as to what was behind it. Angus eyed Feliks warily. He still wasn't sure if he could trust the Russian hacker, but he didn't really have a choice at this point. If he was being honest with himself, he knew that he'd throw Feliks to the wolves if push came to shove. He felt bad thinking like that. He didn't like being selfish, but that's who he is. That's who he's always been. In his line of work, you always had to look out for number one.

The situation he'd found himself in had him paranoid and terrified. Angus hated feeling trapped. He wanted to trust Feliks, but the circumstances wouldn't let him.

 _I'll trust him once I'm out of this shit hole._

With that final thought, Angus stepped forward and open the door with Feliks silently following behind him.

 **000**

The two walked through the doorway and were astounded by the size of the room they were now in. The hallway they were in was an ant compared to the goliath that was the hall they stood in currently. The floor and wall were stark white just like the hallway they came out of. On the right side of the room was a large black door, and on the opposite side of the room was a grey door that was same size as the other one. In dead center of the hall was a polished marble statue of Lady Justice.

There were four sets of white leather lounge chairs spread around the hall, each with a pristine chess table sitting between them. There were four doors that looked identical to the one that they just opened at each corner of the room. They came out the bottom right door.

There were two sets of large double doors at each end of the hall. They were both colored greys, creating contrast with the snow-white walls. Near the scale statue was a large spiral staircase that lead to the second level. They could see bookshelves lining the walls of the upper level with occasional door breakings them up.

Feliks walked over to the gavel statue while Angus just stared up at the second floor. The hacker ran his hand over sleek marble. "This…isn't what I was expecting…"

Angus laughs as he walks towards the large double doors. "Really? What were you expecting? Some type of…Charlie and the Chocolate Factory shit?" Feliks scoffs at his response.

Angus grabbed the door handles and pulled and pushed as hard as he could, but the doors wouldn't budge. "Well, that's just perfect." He huffed and walked to where Feliks was standing near the giant statue.

"Odd décor for a prison." Angus said, kicking the statue. Feliks turned to him curiously.

"Prison?" He asked.

"Yes, prison," Angus gestured towards the hallway where they came from. "We were in fucking CELLS, dude." Feliks looked back at the door, and then up at the bookshelves, and that at the perfectly sculpted gavel. He shook his head in disagreement.

"I…don't think this is a prison."

"What makes you say that?"

"Does this look like any prison you have been in before?" The Russian asked.

Angus' smug face quickly disappeared and was replaced with one of nervousness. "N-no. Can't say it does. Then again, there'd be n-no reason for me to be in a prison anyway, so I don't really have a reference."

Feliks could see small sweat drops forming on his forehead. The arms dealer was clearly not great at keeping his composure under stressful situations. That left Feliks to remain composed enough for the both of them. His current cohort was not someone that the Russian would typically align himself with. People like Angus weren't his cup of tea. He already disliked social interactions, so interactions with someone as brash and impulsive as Angus was something he didn't enjoy. Their relationship was formed out of fear and desperation. They were quite literally the only thing that each had at the moment.

Angus coughed into his fist and regained his composure. "Alright. Well, where do you think we are?" he asked. Feliks looked towards the other doors they hadn't checked yet. "Not sure, but not prison. Not by…long shot." Angus scoffed and walked toward the black door and pulled it open. He stopped for a moment, startled, and then stepped through, letting the door shut behind him and leaving Feliks by himself. The boy sighed and made way to follow him.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard what he thought sounded like a door slamming behind him.

He turned on his heel as quick as quick as he could and looked up toward the second level of the hall. The slam had sounded higher up. There was no movement. The doors looked as if they hadn't been touched. Feliks sighed at turned back toward the doors that Angus had walked through. He needed to get out of this place as soon as possible; being there was messing with his head.

 **000**

Feliks walks into the room and comes face to face with a large cafeteria. Long tables line the room. He turns toward the back wall to see a door and a lunch room window where food would be served. The first thing Feliks noticed about the large room was the complete lack of any other openings in and out of the room. There were no windows. Nothing of the sort. The walls were the same stark white as everywhere else he'd seen. He also noticed that Angus was nowhere to be seen.

"Angus?" he called out, looking around the quiet room. A crash suddenly came from what Feliks presumed to be the kitchen. Angus' head popped up through the lunch line window, looking upset as usual.

"Don't fucking scare me like that, man!" His breaths were quick and ragged. Feliks couldn't hold back a quiet chuckle.

"That…scared you? Does not take much, does it?" Angus grit his teeth in irritation. "Shut up and get back here." Angus disappeared around the corner, so Feliks walked through the kitchen doors after him.

Feliks wasn't surprised to see the kitchen looked like everything else in the building. The biggest difference was the kitchen equipment lining the walls on tall shelves, enough fresh fruit to stock a fruit stand, and what looked like the door to a walk-in pantry. Angus was going through drawer after drawer, tossing silverware to the floor with reckless abandon.

"What…are you doing?" Feliks asked, curious.

Angus didn't look up from his rummaging. "Looking for a weapon. I don't know who the hell put us here, but when I find them, I'm gonna make them wish they never fucking met me." His voice was filled with spite. Feliks looked at the fruit and the pantry door.

"Who…put this food here?" Angus grunted at the hacker's question.

"Why the fuck do you care? It's not gonna when we…get out…of," Angus' rant slowed to a halt as he looked up at a knife rack hanging from the wall. "Here…" He reached out and grabbed the largest knife on the rack. Angus' face quickly turned from one of frustration to one of excitement.

"HELL YES!" He yelled. He fiddled with the knife, tossing it from hand to hand. Feliks didn't attempt to hide his nervousness.

"Is…violence your only response to situations like this?" Feliks asked, making sure not to get too close to Angus. The Russian still wasn't sure how trustworthy the arms dealer was, and him having a knife didn't quell his nerves. Angus looked at the boy, perplexed.

"You're joking, right? Are you saying you DON'T want to go after the fuckers who did this to us?" Angus took a few steps toward Feliks, and Feliks, in response, took a few steps back. "It is...not that," he looked toward the lunch window, preparing a get away in case Angus initiated a fight. "It's just that…we do not know what we are up against."

Angus chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. "Also…also YOU don't get to talk to me about violence! 'Cause last time I checked—it's YOU who's been the most violent so far." Angus gestured toward his nose, toward his dirty and blood-stained shirt. Feliks looked down at his feet in shame. He hated to admit it, but Angus had a point. It was him who'd done the most damage.

Feliks hated resorting to violence, and he felt a little bad for lashing out. However, he was also having a hard time mustering up sympathy for Angus. It was him who'd attacked first, and it was him who'd made threats unto his life. He was much more an analytical thinker then a common brute. Though he hated using violence, sometimes in moments of panic it's easy to resort to headbutts. Feliks looked back up at Angus with cold eyes.

"Might I remind you it was YOU who…attacked first." Despite currently being on the defensive, Feliks refused to back down.

Angus twirled the knife in hand and took a few deep breaths in order to calm himself down.

"Look. I get you probably don't want to fight, but there isn't really anything else we can do right now. We either find who did this to us and make them pay, or we-,"

Angus' rant was interrupted by the sound of thud coming from behind the pantry door. Both boys jumped at the abrupt sound. The two look between each other and then back at the metal door. Angus slowly approached the door; Feliks now standing behind him. He placed his hand on the handle, held his breath, and flung the door open with all the power he could muster.

What looked like a blur flew out of the pantry like a bat out of hell. The blur shoulder checked Angus and sent him spiraling into Feliks, knocking them both to the ground. The two downed boys look toward the window where the blur was now standing still, breathing heavily.

The person standing against the counter was another young man. His tan skin was covered in a visible sheet of sweat. His tousled, chocolate brown hair was ever so slightly matted, and his dark brown eyes held evident fear.

He wore black jeans with a tucked in maroon silk shirt that had its sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His loafers were jet black, and he had a silver watch on his right wrist. He also had a gold medallion dangling from his neck.

Angus and Feliks scrambled to their feet. Angus kept his knife in front of him, pointed toward the pantry boy. Angus was attempting to keep his cool, but the trembling in his hand betrayed him. Feliks was as stiff as a board when he spoke up.

"Kto ... kto ty?" Feliks, in his nervousness, couldn't help but slip back into his native tongue.

The unknown boy looked to the side, avoiding eye contact with the boys. He seemed to be regaining his composure. He then looked toward Feliks, a smug smile plastered onto his face.

"YA ne ugrozhayu." Feliks' eyes flew open and Angus sighed in defeat. The boy spoke again.

"Vy govorite po-angliyski?" he asked, looking between the two boys. Feliks turned toward Angus and pushed down his hand, letting the knife fall to his side. "Yes." Said Feliks, slowly approaching the unnamed boy. Said boy let out a sigh of relief and immediately let his muscles untense.

"That's good to here. My Russian isn't very good, but I'm glad to I've got SOME grasp on the language." The boys were shocked at how fast the pantry boy had calmed down. His now lax body language was making the other two uncomfortable. "So, who are you guys anyways? You don't look like who I was hiding from, so I am to ASSUME you're in the same boat as I, yes?"

The two could only dumbly nod their heads at the smug boy. He sauntered toward the two boys with a swagger that felt unnecessary for the situation. Angus decided that this cocky boy had had the reigns on the conversation for long enough and finally found his voice. "How…do you know Russian? You don't look Russian." It wasn't much, but it made him feel better. The boy just giggled.

"How do I some Russian? I know a little bit of a BUNCH of languages. When you're the Ultimate Socialite, you tend to meet people who speak different languages." Angus spoke up again.

"Ultimate Socialite."

"That's right! I still need to introduce myself! I'm sorry for my poor manners." The boy stuck his hand out. "Joaquin Hidalgo: Ultimate Socialite, and it's always a pleasure to be in the company of handsome gentleman such as yourselves." Feliks accepted the hand with no issue and shared his name, but Angus found himself flustered at the boy's words. He quickly composed himself and pushed the two apart from each other.

"Okay "Ultimate Socialite", mind sharing with us what you were doing in the fucking pantry?" Angus snapped, looking toward the now open pantry. It was a rather open space, with more shelves with the same fresh fruit, vegetables, and other assorted food items. Joaquin stared down Angus with a smile that could best be described as flirtatious.

"Oh? You aren't going to share your name with me? I feel I'm at least owed that, am I not?" Joaquin teased. Angus felt his face heating up as he stomped toward the socialite. "My name's Angus Hutchinson, and you've got five seconds to tell us what you were doing in the pantry before I knock your pretty boy teeth down your throat!" he shouted.

"Such an abrasive personality," the boy's confidence hadn't wavered in the slightest. "I like that in a man." Angus began choking on his anger, which came out in the form of garbled growing and foot stomping. Feliks sighed and shook his head, succumbing to the pain of his growing headache. Joaquin once again giggled.

"I'm just teasing with you, Angus. You have to be able to laugh in the face of stressful situations like this." Joaquin's face drops from a flirty smile to a drearier look. "If you must know why I was in the pantry, I was hiding." Feliks turned to look at the Spanish boy. "Hiding?" Joaquin sighed and nodded solemnly.

"Hiding? From what?"

"Probably the fucker who put us here." Angus sneered.

"I don't know what it was, but…it…wasn't human." Joaquin mumbled, rubbing his arm. The other two boys looked at the newest addition to their team. "Fuck you talking about?" the arms dealer asked. "Not human? You're kidding, right?"

"I wish I was kidding."

"Great. We finally find someone else and he's fucking nuts." Angus let out a hollow chuckle and ran his fingers through his hair. Joaquin walked up him and stood off with him.

"I don't appreciate being mocked."

"Oh! _You don't?"_ Angus spit mockingly. "You can dish it but can't take it, is that it?"

"I know what I saw, and what I saw _was not human."_ Joaquin hissed. Angus just laughed.

"Is that so? Well, how about we get a second opinion? What do you think, Feliks? It's bullshit, right?" A moment passes between the two starring each other down, before the lack of a response became noticeable. "Feliks, what the hell are you-," Angus turns around to chastise Feliks, but is stopped when he sees the Russian starring wide eyed in the direction of the door. The two turn to where he's starring and feel their blood run cold.

Standing in the doorway to the kitchen is a creature that took up a little less then half of the frame. Its body was cut down the middle in two different colors. Its left side was stark white and a piercing, beady black eye. It's other have was as black as coal and accompanied by a jagged red eye. The black half had a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. It looked like a giant mechanical bear. Its lower half was much scrawnier then it's top half. Its body weight was resting on its fists like a gorilla. It was lurched forward, as if ready to lunge. A black constable hat adorned its head, and a large green "4" was printed on its chest. Clanking and whirring noises were coming from the hulking beast of a robot. Its "skin" was a shiny metallic iron, and eyes stared wholes through the three boys.

Said boys were frozen still, unable to act. Angus turned his head toward Joaquin in time to see him making the sign of the cross with his medallion in hand. He was whispering something in Spanish; most likely a prayer. He turned to Feliks to see he still hadn't moved an inch. Angus pulled out the knife that he'd snuck into his back pocket.

"Okay…fuck this…"

The banshee like screams of the robot were deafening.

000

 **Finally! Took me long enough! I'm pretty happy with how this turned out for the most part. Thank you to liammarklh88 and Ziggymia123 for sending in Feliks Dobrow and Joaquin Hidalgo respectively. I hope I wrote them how you thought they'd be! I'll be pushing back the deadline for the app. Not sure when it'll be due though, it depends on how many submissions I get. That's it for now. Hopefully there won't be as big a break in between parts. Until then! That's all I've got for now!**

 _ **Ultimate's we've met: 3/16**_

 _ **Angus Hutchinson: Ultimate Arms Dealer**_

 _ **Feliks Dobrow: Ultimate Hacker**_

 _ **Joaquin Hidalgo: Ultimate Socialite**_


	3. Prologue: New Faces

There are certain moments in your life that can cause you to freeze up, to lose all feeling in your body, as if your soul was sucked from its physical form. These moments usually manifest under more mundane scenarios. Not studying for a test or getting called out for something you shouldn't've been doing. Small blips like that could easily cause a person to lock in place and lose the ability to respond for a brief period of time.

Standing face to face with a bear/gorilla robot that's twice your size could definitely be considered one of those moments.

After it released it's screech it didn't move forward. It stood firm in the doorway, as if waiting for one of the three boys to make a move first. Angus stood it between his recent companions. Joaquin was still clutching his medallion, prayers were flying out of his mouth a mile a minute. Angus looked to Feliks. The Russians eyes were scanning around the room, seemingly looking for a quick mistake. He eyes eventually landed on the cafeteria line window. Angus saw what Feliks saw and then looked again at Joaquin. His eyes were still shut, and his medallion still locked in his death grip. The robot was more then likely what the socialite had been hiding from.

Angus' breath hitched in his throat. He clenched his fists as tight as he could. He stared down the lunch window as if it'd disappear if he took his eyes off. His mind was screaming at him to make a move, but he couldn't feel his legs. They'd gone numb from fear. He turned toward Feliks, who by this point, was very slowly backing up and moving toward the open pantry that they'd found Joaquin in.

 _Going for cover? Good luck with that! That thing'll tear the door right off the fucking hinges! I need to get out of here…_

"Dios te salve, Maria. Llena eres de gracia: El Seńor es contigo. Bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres. Y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre: Jesús. Santa María, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros pecadores, ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte. Amén."

Angus turned to Joaquin, listening in on the prayer being recited. Angus wasn't a religious person but being trapped in a situation like this could make anyone pray to a divine being. Suddenly, as he turned forward and locked eyes with the creature standing in front of him, he heard familiar words resonating in his head.

" _That's the shit I'm talking about, kid. You're soft. Something hard comes up—you freeze! You're a bitch. Bitches get scared, Angus. Do you want to be afraid your entire life?"_

His father's words filled his head. His head was spinning, and his hands and fingers felt so numb they might as well've not have been there. His chest felt like it was going to explode. The words that were repeated to him day in and day kept playing on repeat. A continuous mantra bombinating through his ears. He clenched his eyes shut and squeezed at his head. He couldn't hear Joaquin's prayer. He couldn't hear Feliks moving toward the pantry. He couldn't hear the whirring of gears coming from the robot in front of him. All he could hear was his father.

" _Do you want to be afraid your entire life?"_

" _Do you want to be afraid your entire life?"_

" _Do you want to be afraid your entire_ _ **life?**_ _"_

" _ **Do you want to be afraid your entire life?**_ _"_

Angus took in a sharp breath and opened his eyes. He didn't realize he was speaking aloud.

"No. I won't be afraid. I'll act." Joaquin turned toward the arms dealer, confused.

"What?" he asked. He didn't get a response in the form of words.

Angus moved as quick as he could before Joaquin could react. He went behind the socialite and, with the all the power he could muster, pushed him forward and toward the hulking robot. The boy stumbled, tripped over himself, and landed flat on the tiles. The sudden movement startled the robot. It let out its terrible screech again and started to move forward. Feliks, caught off guard by the sudden action, ran to pull Joaquin to his feet. Angus took advantage of the distraction and ran full sprint for the cafeteria window.

He dove through with all the skill of someone who's never dove through a window before. With arms flailing in an attempt to protect himself, he landed on the floor with a thud. He hadn't even caught his breath before he scrambled to his feet and bolted for the door. Feliks stared through window and watched Angus open the cafeteria door and slam it shut behind him. The Russian backed away from the downed Joaquin as the giant robot stepped toward them. He moved to the back of the room and pressed his back against one of the shelves. He felt it move under his extra weight. He turned and saw that it was on wheels.

Just as the hulking robot put its mitts on the frozen socialite, it's focus was suddenly on the sound of squeaking wheels. It looked up just in time to see Feliks pushing the rolling shelf forward with all the force he had. The shelf collided with the face of the machine. Trays, pots and pans, scattered to the floor. The bear stumbled backwards and fell onto its back. Joaquin covered his head from debris and was forcefully pulled to his feet by Feliks.

"Poyekhali!" The hacker yelled. He yanked on Joaquin's arms and pulled him toward the cafeteria window. They hopped through and followed in the footsteps of the arms dealer before them. By this point, the robot had gotten back to its feet. It slammed its fists onto the ground like a stubborn child and screamed its hellacious scream. With one hand, it grabbed onto the fallen rolling shelf that had put him down and hurled it like a shot-put ball through the cafeteria window and at the two escapees. The shelf clipped the edge of one of the tables and pushed it forward. The shelf kept flying and swept the feet of the fleeing boys.

The two landed in a mangled mess on the floor, limbs intertwined with each other and the metal shelf itself. They struggled to get to their feet as the beast made its way from the kitchen to the more open cafeteria. It continued to scream as it barreled at the boys. They escaped the clutches of the shelf and crawled toward the door. They finally got backup entirely and flung the door open and closed it behind them just as quickly. They didn't have a lot of time to breath. The bear's screams, though now muffled, were still getting closer.

The first thing they noticed was that Angus was no where in sight. It's like he just disappeared into thin air as soon as he left the cafeteria. Feliks scanned over their possible options. Going upstairs wouldn't be a quick enough get away and running back to the cells would've just been a dead end. The Russian's eyes stopped and locked onto the double doors directly across from the Cafeteria. Feliks, holding onto Joaquin's hand, dragged him across the hall and through those doors.

* * *

They didn't stop running when they entered room. They only stopped to catch their breath when they were sure the monster was no longer following them. Joaquin sat down, clutching at his medallion, while Feliks caught his breath and took in their surroundings.

They were surrounded by tall metal shelves filled to the brim with miscellaneous items. The shelves were lined up like aisles in a supermarket. The ceiling was taller than the ceiling in the main hall, but everything was still the same stark white. Feliks looked to the socialite who was still on the ground. He held out his hand to him, which Joaquin shakily accepted. They stood together in silence, letting the largeness of the room consume their current emotions.

"Are…you…okay?" Feliks asked while still catching his breath. Joaquin was sweating profusely. His hair, once perfect, now reflected that of a semi wet mop, and very slight pit stains were beginning to form on his shirt.

"Yes," the socialite started. He still sounded winded. "yes, I'm fine… Tired, and afraid, but…alive." Joaquin leaned against the shelf for support. Feliks turned back toward the doors they ran through, fearing that they were being followed. The large room was silent, and the machine that had been chasing them was anything but quiet. With the silence enveloping them, Feliks' fear began to give way to anger. Anger at Angus.

"YA ne mogu poverit', chto on tam sdelal. Kogda ya yego naydu, ya sobirayus' pozvonit' yemu na sheyu!" The words were flowing from the hacker's mouth like a river. He kicked the shelf next to him. It rattled and shook, preparing itself to topple. Joaquin sprung up and grabbed the wobbling shelf, steadying it and saving them both.

"Calm y-yourself, Feliks! Please!" Joaquin's words were shaky. Feliks took in a deep breath and let it out, trying to calm himself down. "I'm…sorry." Feliks said, much calmer now. "It's…I can't believe he did that to you." Joaquin let out a hollow chuckle and ran a hand through his hair.

"I can," he started. "People can do surprising things when they're afraid." Joaquin looked around the room, surveying it. "Where…are we?"

Feliks did the same thing and shook his head. There was nothing specific on the shelves. It ranged from large crates and boxes to lose baseball bats and bear traps. "Sklad." He whispered. Joaquin looked confused at the answer. The Russian sighed in defeat.

"Warehouse. Storage. Thing of that nature." He began to notice how many dangerous items lined the shelves. They ranged from baseball bats and slingshots to harpoon guns and machetes. Almost everything looked dangerous in one way or another. Then again, everything had an opportunity to be dangerous in the right way.

Joaquin looked back at where they came from. "Where's Angus?" he asked. Feliks took his hat off and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Not…sure. Could be in here for all we know."

Feliks, once again dawning his hat, started walking further into the warehouse. Joaquin trailing behind him. The aisle felt endless. Joaquin, who'd finally regain his composure properly, let out a quiet, throaty chuckle.

"So, I know your name, Feliks," he started "but I know nothing about YOU. Tell me about yourself. We've nothing but time."

Feliks stopped walking and turned toward the socialite. The sly smirk dawning Joaquin's face was a look Feliks wasn't accustomed to. He could almost feel himself choking from the awkwardness. It was hard to look him in the eye. He eventually found his voice.

"Time? You think we have time? That…monster could be looking for us right now." Feliks still sounded fatigued. His point did nothing to sway the stubborn Joaquin.

"It would've found us by now if it were looking. You've nowhere to run from me." The guttural cockiness in the boy's voice had Feliks a little on edge. The hacker was never one to talk or brag about himself or his accomplishments. All he could do was stand across from him, nervously fiddling with his hoodie strings. His eyes locked onto the medallion around his neck. He'd found his escape.

"Eto ozherel'ye. Chto eto takoye?" He said, unintentionally slipping back into his native tongue. Joaquin gave him a confused look and followed where his eyes were looking. He saw they were starring at the medallion around his neck and gave an educated guess at what the Russian was referring to.

"OH! My medallion? St. James the Greater: Patron Saint of Spain." Joaquin fiddled with the medallion; lost in thought. "You're…religious?" Feliks asked. Joaquin looked up, and his smile had given way to a more conflicted look.

"Very much so, yes. It's just…the catholic church doesn't really…support my lifestyle." He nervously fiddled with the medallion. Feliks could tell he was uncomfortable, and he felt bad for digging up skeletons. "I am…sorry for making you…upset." They stood there silently for what felt like an hour before Joaquin once again plastered on his smirk.

"Don't worry about it. I'm more impressed you managed to wiggle your way out of my line of questioning." Joaquin sauntered toward the Russian. The two stood on equal ground and even footing. Joaquin had officially entered Feliks' personal bubble. Joaquin moved closer until his mouth was right next to his ear and his voice was barely above a whisper. "You're sly. I like that."

Feliks couldn't hold back a shudder as the velvety voice invaded his head. Joaquin took a step back and let out an infectious sort of giggle.

"All in good fun, Feliks. Thank you for being a good sport." As the words left his mouth a crash was heard from the aisle next aisle over. The two were immediately on edge. Joaquin moved behind Feliks and Feliks grabbed the closest thing to him off the shelf. The closet thing happened to be an aluminum baseball bat. Scuffles and mumbles could be heard from behind boxes and crates.

"We hear you." Feliks said, moving toward the end of the aisle, planning to hop into the other one and get the jump on whoever was on the other side. "Show yourselves."

The noises ceased, and two figures appeared from the end of the aisle, one of which was holding a lead pipe. Both were female. The first one, the one not holding the pipe, was an average height and also looked to be slight underweight. Her chest size was average, and her body shape was generally pear shaped. Her face was roundish and covered in a subtle makeup job. Her eyes were green, her skin a light peach tone, and her hair was a pale blue color that was kept in two small pigtails which draped down her shoulders, secured with green daisy bobbles.

She was wearing a short sleeved green shirt with a front pocket that had a few pens and what looked like a scalpel inside of it. Three grey studded buttons were arranged in a vertical line from the mid-neck down and a couple of badges and pins were attached to her shirt. She had an ID card on a navy lanyard dangling from her neck, and a loose pair of navy jeans with a brown belt with a silver buckle shaped like a first aid sign. Her ensemble is completed with a pair of grey pump canvas trainers. She also had a grey backpack on her shoulders. She was standing completely still and holding the straps of her backpack in a death grip. She kept looking in between the two boys and her pipe wielding companion; panicked.

The second girl, pipe girl, was of a slim build. Her hair was chin-length, messy, and black with slight red highlights. Her skin was very pale, almost papery. All and all, she looked rather average, but what stood out were her eyes. Even from a distance, the large round eyes were something to behold. A stormy grey color with flecks of electric blue, complimented by thick eyelashes. Her eyes were easily her most striking feature.

She wore a pastel red roll-neck jumper with dark grey denim shorts held up by braces. She also had on dark maroon leg warmers and dark black boots. She was holding the lead pipe the same way Feliks was holding the baseball bat. She stood steadfast. Small beads of sweat were visible on her forehead, but she remained steady. The other girl still looked afraid.

"Iroha," backpack girl said, turning toward her. "please calm down. We don't need to resort to violence."

The pipe girl, Iroha, looked at backpack girl and sighed. Her defense didn't drop in the slightest. She turned back toward the boys.

"Don't step any closer." She said, taking a step back as she did. "I don't want to hurt anyone, but I'm not willing to risk anything."

Feliks kept his bat up, prepared for a fight to start up. Joaquin ran up and stood between the two hostiles.

"Please, Iroha, was it? There's no need for hostility." Joaquin pleaded. He kept his hands raised in defense while creating a wall between the two girls and Feliks. "Nobody needs to get hurt. We're all on the same boat."

Iroha looked at her concerned traveling companion, then back at the boys. She sighed in defeat and lowered the pipe. Feliks, in response, lowered the bat he was wielding. Joaquin and backpack girl's demeanor immediately relaxed from fading the intensity.

"Good. Good, that's good." Joaquin sighed and moved back toward Feliks. "Now that we're at least a little bit calmer, we can finally do introductions. I am Joaquin Hidalgo. My traveling companion is Feliks Dobrow." Feliks waved his hand in greeting at the two girls.

Backpack girl strutted forward and extended her had toward Feliks.

"Mister Megumi Sato, but there's no need for formalities. You can call me Megumi."

Joaquin raised his eyebrow in confusion. "Mister?"

Megumi chuckled at the confusion on his face. "I specialize in surgery. I'm the Ultimate Surgeon. Surgeons are titled as misters. Don't ask me why, I don't make the rules." She turns on her heel and locks eyes with Iroha. Iroha, once again, lets out a deep sigh.

"Iroha Hori: Ultimate Honey-trapper." She looked away from two boys, focusing her gaze on anything else. Feliks stepped forward.

"Honey…trapper? I cannot say I have head of this." He questioned.

She didn't bother to make eye contact as she answered. "Google it."

Feliks could feel the hostility from a mile away. Megumi tried to wave off her companion's aloof behavior.

"Don't mind her," she said. "she's a bit grumpy because we're stuck here and can't find a way out."

"You're judging me for being grumpy? After all this?" Iroha asked angerly. Megumi giggled nervously before turning to the boys.

"So, it's good to meet some other faces around here. Especially friendly ones!" Megumi put a finger on her chin in contemplation before speaking up again. "Where'd you boys come from? Were it cells of some kind?"

Joaquin and Feliks looked between each other before both nodding. Iroha stepped forward to stand next to Megumi.

"Then you're the same as us. Guess I feel a little more at ease with you guys. You're like us." Iroha walked past Megumi and approached Joaquin and Feliks, her arm extended for a handshake. Joaquin accepted in stride.

"This is great! New comrades! That gorilla would stand no chance! Not with the arsenal we're surrounded by!" The girls looked confused at Joaquin's declaration.

"Gorilla?" Megumi sounded concerned, and through she stayed quiet, Iroha shared the same look.

"Thing that chased us here. Robot size of gorilla. Though it looked more like bear." Feliks remembered, twirling the bat in his hand idly. "It is the only reason we are meeting right now. We are lucky it did not follow us."

"W-we haven't run into anything like that, so t-that's good, I guess." Megumi said worriedly.

"So, who are you guys anyways? We know your names but that's it. You Ultimates?" Iroha asked.

The boys explained their talents and who they were and what had happened to them up until this point. They also filled them in on who Angus Hutchinson was and what kind of person he is.

"I'm…I'm sorry to hear that happened, Joaquin." Megumi consoled. Joaquin, now laid up against the wall, chuckled.

"It's fine. I've no worries over it." He said. Of all people, it was Iroha who spoke up next.

"You should. It's terrible what he did to you. You deserve justice. For all he knows you could be dead and he'd've caused it." She was clearly getting worked up. Joaquin just waved her off.

"I've never been one to hold ill will toward anyone. Grudges aren't my style. Never have been." Joaquin rested his head against the wall, not paying attention to anything in particular. Iroha wasn't a fan of that answer.

"Maybe they should be. You let stuff roll off your back like that then people know they can walk all over you. If you don't get mad when these sorts of things happen then how do you stop them from happening in the future?"

Joaquin didn't have a response for that. Megumi stood by, awkwardly rubbing her arm, and Feliks was starring up at the top of the tall shelves, almost like he was preoccupied with something. Iroha kept starring at Joaquin, as if she was trying to burn a whole through his head. Her glare was intense, and the Socialite was finding it hard to look away. He looked to Megumi for some kind of input.

"She makes a kind of valid point, Joaquin. You don't have to hate Angus, but you shouldn't let it go. What he did was wrong, and he should be called out on it." Megumi insisted, staring the Spanish boy down. Joaquin laughed, still trying to stay relaxed.

"This is a little silly, is it not? I feel a little attacked." He tried to say that jokingly, but he hated to admit that it was a little true. Joaquin usually took jabs lightly but having his way of living and thinking called out was an easy way to touch a nerve. He turned to the Russian hacker, who was staring at the ceiling.

"Back me up, Feliks. It's a little early to be getting this personal, correct?" The only answer Joaquin got was dead silence. Feliks was staring up at the ceiling; up at the top shelves. It was like he was scanning.

"Feliks? You okay?" Joaquin asked. Megumi moved toward him and put a hand on his shoulder. The three stared in concern at the Russian, and what he said sent shivers down their spines.

"There's something at the top of shelves."

Everyone went from lax to paranoid with those seven words leaving his lips. Joaquin scrambled to his feet and Megumi hugged the wall, wildly starring at the ceiling. Iroha raised her pipe and Feliks raised his bat, prepared for the worst. Iroha and Feliks stood back to back, moving in slow, methodical circles in order to get a full view of the top of the shelves.

"What tipped you off?" Iroha rasped. "That there was something up there?"

"Heard noise. Smekh…giggling. That is…what it sounded like."

The room was silent. Now that everyone had calmed down the noises had become much more obvious. What sounded like cans falling and boxes being moved around came from above them. Joaquin nearly jumped out of his skin when a box filled with rope fell in front of him with a loud thud. That's when the sounds of hysterical giggling echoed throughout the room.

"Look at all the little FISHIES! They look so scared! They're ADOWABLE!" The voice bellowed out. The four on the ground kept their eyes peeled on the shelves and where the shuffling was coming from, but they still couldn't see.

" _I got friends on the other…side~"_ The sing-song voice continued to spout nonsense. The Disney lyric hit Joaquin and Megumi in the gut. They'd recognized it, and it felt like the voice was almost mocking them, but in a way that the voice didn't know they were doing it. Iroha and Feliks showed no reaction to the lyric; insinuating that they didn't recognize it.

"Whoever you are," Feliks said, his voice devoid of emotion. "show yourself. NOW."

The cluttering stopped, and everything fell silent once again. A few seconds past before the giggling started up again. Then the clatter started again, but this time it sounded like it was traveling downward. After a couple of seconds, a small body flew through from one of shelves and landed in front of the four.

The girl was tiny; barely 4'10". Her hair was long, dark green and larger then her, and dragged a little on the ground. Her hair also had miscellaneous twigs and leaves stuck in certain places. Her skin was tanned, and she had clusters of freckles splattered all around her face. Her eyes were brown and round. Her body had no curves on it. She looked almost like a child.

She was wearing a long-sleeved brown shirt underneath a sleeveless green jacket. She wore brown jogging pants with pockets that looked like they'd been stitched on. Her shoes were hiking boots, heavy and grey, and a grey backpack that also looked like it was falling apart. Her outfit was completed with a pair of green fingerless gloves on her hands.

She leaped to her feet and stared up at the four bewildered teens. She showed off a Cheshire cat grin and posed in a sort of "ta-da!" stance.

"You ask, and you shall RECEIVE!" she yelled triumphantly. "Shimei Takenaka: Ultimate Hiker! Nice to meetcha!"

The four just continued to stare. Feliks and Iroha lowered their weapons.

"Shimei…Takenaka?" Feliks parroted back at her, sounding confused. Shimei once again took her "ta-da!" stance.

"Shimei Takenaka: Ultimate Hiker! Nice to meetcha!" she repeated. Feliks just kept starring, completely perplexed.

"Why…were you on top of the shelves?" Joaquin asked, now standing up. Shimei just continued to giggle.

"I was scared because I didn't know where I was, so I climbed the shelves to get to higher ground and scout ahead!"

"Scout ahead? In…a closed off room with a roof?" Questioned Iroha, not understanding a single thing that had come from the girls mouth so far.

"That is CORRECT!" The girl spoke with such confidence that it was easy to forget that what she was say was crazy.

"I don't know what I was expecting…," Iroha said, defeated.

Megumi approached the small girl and smiled back at her. "Can you tell us where you were before you got here, Shimei?"

Shimei's only response was to back away from Megumi and into Feliks. She grabbed onto his clothes and began climbing him like mountain. His curses fell on deaf ears as she pulled herself onto his shoulders.

"I was locked in a cell before I came here." She said, resting her chin on top of Feliks' hatted head.

"A cell, you say?" Megumi asked.

"Well, that isn't ENTIRELY true. I didn't come here first after I was let out of my cell. I went upstairs first. There was a game room, and a library! It was pretty cool." She continued to nuzzle deeper onto Feliks' person. He clearly wasn't okay with what was happening, but he didn't have the heart to throw her off. Iroha hung her head in contemplation.

"Game room? Library? This place is infuriating. There's no order. No proper structure. Everything is mismatched and wrong." She said, annoyed at the randomness of the building's layout.

"I'm sorry your tomb doesn't look how you pictured it." Joaquin said sarcastically, but he was shut up by the quick cold look Iroha shot him. Feliks sighed and looked toward Megumi who spoke up next.

"If she came from one of the cells then she's in the same boat we are. Did you see anyone else before you came in here, Shimei?" Megumi asked the small girl. Shimei looked away in thought, but then hopped off the hackers back, turned back toward the surgeon and held up two fingers.

"I saw TWO people. One with a red and black flannel, and one with a black button up. They weren't together." Joaquin and Feliks raised their heads at the second description.

"That guys in black button us was with us. Where did you see him?" Feliks asked frantically.

"I heard commotion from outside, so I opened the door to check what was happening, and I saw him run upstairs into the game room. You guys ran in hear a minute after."

"So, he's upstairs? Well, at least he got away." Joaquin said, trying to relax himself. Shimei stood proud and did a two-finger salute.

"That's all I saw. Scout's honor!"

As the group continued to chat to Shimei about what she's seen and how she climbed such a high shelf with no issue, Feliks found himself lost in thought.

 _Он поднялся наверх ... Хоакин может простить его, но я не могу так легко отпустить._

Feliks wasn't a fan of holding onto things, but when you're face to face with death and someone who's supposed to stand beside you throws you to the proverbial wolves? Well, it's easy to lose sight of easy forgiveness.

He took off his cap and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He looked over his growing group. Shimei was bouncing on her heels and telling a story; the words falling from her mouth at a mile a minute. Megumi and Joaquin were attempting to decipher her strange tale and having no luck. Iroha looked tired. She wasn't even paying attention to the three. She looked toward him and the two locked eyes for a second.

She looked as if she was trying to peer into his soul; his very being. He looked away and put his baseball cap back on. He looked over to Shimei and finally noticed that she'd been staring at him blankly. She walked up to him, not breaking eye contact. Feliks took a step back as she moved forward. They stood silently, just watching each other.

"Hunchback of Notre Dame."

"Kakiye?"

"The Hunchback of Notre Dame." She repeated, a large smile adorning her face. "That would be your favorite Disney movie. I can see it. You ever seen it?"

Feliks was surprised at the abruptness of the current conversation. He'd never seen a Disney movie before, let alone a specific one like Hunchback.

"No. No I've not." The smile never disappeared from her face.

"We should watch it sometime. I could tell it'll be your favorite." Her smile was infectious. Feliks felt the slight tug at the corner of his mouth.

"Yes. Maybe. We should…get out of here before something like that, yes?"

"Glad you mentioned that, Feliks." Joaquin said, butting into their conversation. "We should talk about some kind of game plan. What's our next move?"

"We look for other people. If what you guys say is true, then that thing is probably still out there." Iroha said, stepping forward. Joaquin chuckled nervously.

"Well, that is…certainly one idea." He said quietly. Iroha shot him a surprised look.

"You don't want to go out and help people?"

"Now, I didn't say that. I just don't think it's safe to go out there right now. That…monstruo could be out there right now waiting for us." Joaquin defended himself.

The two continued to squabble, with poor Megumi attempting to mediate the argument. Feliks went back to tuning everyone else out and analyzing the room around him. He was attempting relax, but something the back of his mind refused to let him do so. By all accounts they should be safer; a larger group is better then a small one. He just couldn't stop feeling paranoid. Every tinge of noise made him uneasy.

The shouting.

The stomping.

The scraping…

…The scraping?

The Russian looked up toward the sound of scratching against steel. He saw two pinprick red eyes staring back at him. His throat grew dry in half a second, and he took a step back in fear. He tried to work up words as a warning, but they died in his mouth. He slowly raised his bat, but more from a primal fear then of conscious defense. It took a minute before the other four something was wrong with him.

"Are…are you okay, Feliks? You look pale." Megumi asked, worry evident in her voice.

"Сверху полки. Мы не в безопасности. Мы должны идти." He whispered. Three of the four people watching the hacker looked confused, and the fourth puts his head down in thought. Iroha turned to Joaquin.

"What's he saying?" she asked. Joaquin closed his eyes in concentration.

"Не безопасно. Нам нужно уйти." Feliks whispered again, this time even more frantic.

Shimei was getting freaked out. She clung to Megumi like her life depended on it while Joaquin kept thinking. He racked his brain for his old and limited understanding of the Russian language until a few dots connected.

"Not safe."

"What?"

"That's what he said. He said not safe." The four turned lightning quick toward where Feliks was looking and came face to face with a monster.

This creature had the same color scheme, pattern, and relative size to the previous one, but this one looked completely different physically. It was thin and lanky. One arm held onto the shelf while the other dangled by its side. There was a blue number two printed on its chest. Its gangly arms and frame, mixed with the elongated face, looked almost ape-like. It didn't once turn away from the group. It stared them down with an extreme intensity.

The five stood completely still. Iroha, like Feliks with his bat, slowly raised her pipe. Shimei ran behind Feliks and wrapped her arms around his waste out of fear. Joaquin was briskly back stepping in an attempt to get to the door as quick as possible without provoking the robot.

Another beat of silence passed before the robot dropped down from the shelf and landed in front of the group.

"RUN!" Feliks yelled. Joaquin, Megumi and Shimei started running toward the exit. Feliks and Iroha started walking backwards, but they held back to hold off the creature.

Once it hit the floor it used its momentum to push itself forward toward the two Ultimates. The two steadied their nerves and took a heavy swing at the approaching beast. The pipe and baseball bat connected with the monster's face, sending it stumbling towards the shelf.

The shelf rattled and shook. Boxes and random items fell to the floor. The monster turned back to the two to show off the damage they inflicted. Its red eye was cracked, and sparks were flying out of it. Its other eye had been completely knocked out. It emitted a screech that sounded similar to that of a howler monkey.

The two could watch as it reoriented itself, locking eyes with the two of them. Feliks was frozen in his place. He felt Iroha tug on his arm and pull him in the direction of the exit. The booked it away from the screaming monster.

It reached onto the shelf and grabbed the first thing it could; a green vase and flung it at the fleeing Ultimates. It missed Iroha completely, but it made perfect contact with the back of Feliks' head.

The vase shattered upon impact. Shards scattered everywhere, and Feliks hit the cold floor face first. He was out cold. Iroha turned back and grabbed Feliks by his hoodie in an attempt to drag him to the door, but the beast was quicker, and much more agile.

It took only a second for it to clear the distance between them and be on top. It grabbed Feliks by his legs and yanked him from Iroha's grasp.

It flung Feliks over its shoulder and immediately started scaling the shelves. The creature disappeared with the unconscious hacker in only a couple of seconds. Iroha stood by herself, slack jawed, pipe dangling loosely from her grip. She looked down and saw that his baseball cap was left behind in the scuffle.

She took in a deep breath and made a silent vow to herself to get him back. She picked up Feliks' baseball cap and jogged to the exit. She threw the door open and moved into the main hall.

And she was greeted with the obscenest sight she'd ever seen.

* * *

Angus Hutchinson was no stranger to fear. Illegal deals and activities were common place in his family's business. He'd come face to face with dangerous people on many an occasion, but this was a different kind of fear.

This was primal. Basic instinct.

Throwing Joaquin to the floor, abandoning his companions, and running up the spiral staircase faster then he'd ever done ANYTHING in his entire life. That wasn't him acting on his own, that was something much more animal. Joaquin and Feliks could be right behind him and he wouldn't know.

It only took him a few seconds to make it up the spiral staircase. He ran through the closest door to him, never once slowing his pace.

The room looked like recreation area; a game room. Through the games were scarce, there was still a pool table, two arcade cabinets, a magazine rack, a shelf above said magazine rack with little knickknacks and the such, and two lockers against the back wall.

Angus leaned against the pool table, watching the sweat that was on his forehead poor onto the table. He kept breathing heavily until he felt his stomach churning. He grabbed the edges of the pool table and retched up what little was in his stomach. All that came out was a clear viscous liquid; a little thicker then spit. After everything dribbled out of him, he just continued to dry heave.

After his hacking fit, he let his body relax. His mind was still trying to catch up with his body. He fell backwards and landed on his butt. He was starring down at the tiles, trying his best to slow his heart beat.

Angus had never been this afraid. Having guns and knives drawn on him had left him less frantic and scared then this. He ran his hands through his hair as he felt a headache coming on. He felt dizzy; weak. It took him a moment to remember Joaquin and Feliks, and what he'd done. His heart sank at the memory. The memory of callously shoving the socialite to the floor with zero regard for his wellbeing. He didn't think about how that thing could be tearing the two of them from limb to limb.

 _That's why it's not following me… It's killing them, isn't it? I…_

His dizzy spell was getting worse. It felt like the room was getting smaller. He couldn't get the image of Joaquin and Feliks, torn to shreds and in bloody pieces, out of his head. He clenched his eyes shut in an attempt to make the thoughts go away.

 _They're dead. They're fucking dead because of you. You fucking left them._

" _It's honestly shocking how pathetic you can be."_

Angus felt his breathing stop completely as his father's voice played in his head again.

Carl Hutchinson had a voice that always resonated with you. Booming; domineering. He always had to be the loudest it the room. Angus could here the mans words playing over and over on repeat.

He dragged himself to his feet with the help of the pool table. He scratched at the green cloth and gritted his teeth.

" _This is what my issue is, Angus. You're too scared to fight, and when you actually fight, you're too weak to win."_

Angus felt his breaths come in shallow and quick. His hands wrapped around his throat in fear and his teeth felt like they were about to shatter.

" _People you give a shit about are going to need you someday. And you're going to be too much of a pussy to do anything about it. It's pathetic. It's…it's maddening."_

His grip around his neck grew tighter. Tears were beginning to well up in the corners of his eyes. He couldn't breathe.

 _You fucked up. They're dead because of you. Because you're a fucking coward._

" _When the cards are down, you fail. I can't train you to not be a bitch. You either are or you aren't. You…just so happed to be. I can't fix that, but I can help you around it."_

 _Piece of shit. You ran away again. What the fuck makes you so special that you get to live over them?_

" _Being brutally honest here._ _ **Your life isn't worth a whole lot.**_ _"_

Angus couldn't hold back his cry of anguish as his hands moved from his neck to the pool table, and in one swift movement, flipped it over onto its side. He just kept kicking it until he couldn't feel his foot. He fell back to the ground, his tears now flowing freely. He kept indignantly kicking at the pool table.

Until he heard clutter from the lockers.

He almost immediately pulled himself out of his funk and flew to his feet in shock. He stared down the locker that had a soft, but still noticeable shuffling noise coming from it. He slowly walked toward it, grabbing a pool stick on the way over. He held his breath until he was right in front of the loud locker. He finally exhaled when he swung open the locker door; pool stick at the ready.

He wasn't ready to come face to face with a girl.

Said girl was short with a platinum white pixie cut, slender, olive skinned with violet eyes and a small but, pointed nose, and freckles sprinkled across her face.

She had on a red and orange tank top and khaki plaid pants, and a black jacket with red buttons. A red and white stripped ribbon was wrapped around her neck, and she also had on a pair of brown boots.

She looked scared now that she'd been cornered in a locker. Angus was trying not to look threatening, but he was more confused than anything.

"So, you want to explain yourself?" he asked, not moving from his place in front of her. She shut her eyes and steadied her breathing. Before screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Keine Angst! Attacke!"

"Excuse me?"

Like a bolt of lightning, the girl grabbed onto Angus' collar and hoisted herself up, planting her knees firmly on his chest. They're faces were a breath away from each other, but that immediately changed when the girl shifted her weight and sent Angus reeling towards the floor. At the end of the scuffle, the locker girl ended up on top of the arms dealer.

He was flustered and attempted to push himself away from the girl, but she sat staunchly on top of him. Her eyes narrowed as she moved closer to his face.

"Who ARE you, fremder?" she asked, accusingly.

"Who am I? Aren't you the one who just jumped out of a locker and assaulted me? I should be asking YOU who YOU are. So, who are you?" Angus snapped. She huffed and leaned back.

"Schande Wagner, but you will call me Beatrix. That's my name. Now yours, täuschen." She spoke sternly, still unwavering. Angus sighed; resigned to his fate.

"Angus Hutchinson: Ultimate Arms Dealer. Now get off me." He said, sneering up at the girl, Beatrix. She didn't move an inch.

"That's just a name," she stated "not who you are. I'm gonna need more if I'm to trust you." She moved her face closer to his. Angus grit his teeth.

"I'm not about to give away my life story to the person who jumped me and is currently straddling me. Now get off me." Angus demanded.

Beatrix looked away for a moment before rolling off the boy. Angus took the opportunity to pick himself up and observe the damage he'd done to the game room. Now with a clearer held, he felt stupid for loosing his cool like that.

 _Now this girl probably thinks I'm a psychopath._

Said girl hopped up to her feet next to him, and Angus was able to take the height difference between the two of them. He stood a good head over her. He lad to crane his head downward to look her in the eye. She just kept starring at him; as if expecting him to run away.

"Now tell me who you are, Angus Hutchinson." She said. Now without the weight of her on top of him, Angus was able to take in her voice. Her German accent was very noticeable. Even more noticeable then Feliks' Russian accent. Angus sighed in annoyance.

"Yeah, I'm not going to do that." He said.

"But you said you would!" Beatrix yelled.

"I say a lot of things." She huffed in irritation at his answer, pouting and crossing his arms. Angus chuckled before continuing their discussion.

"So, any reason you attacked me like a fucking crazy person?" He asked in a nonchalant manner. Beatrix gave him an extremely indignant look.

"You were the one who seemed crazy, dumm. I heard you screaming and crying from the locker. I thought you were dangerous." Angus started sputtering.

"I wasn't crying! I was just angry because I'm trapped in this shithole, so I took it out on a pool table!" he yelled angrily. Beatrix just giggled, which made Angus even more angry.

Angus looked down at his feet before looking back at Beatrix. "Are you an Ultimate?" Beatrix looked confused. Angus sighed once again.

"Ultimate Talent? Like, I'm the Ultimate Arms Dealer. So, are you an Ultimate?" he asked, irritated. Her confused look grew more noticeable. She grabbed the side of her head and screwed her eyes shut. She looked as if she was straining herself immensely. Angus' went from irritated to concerned.

"You…uh…you, all right?" he asked, taking a step forward. Her eyes shot open, startling Angus. She plastered on a smile and chuckled. "I'm fine." She said, scratching the back of her head. "Just a headache. And to answer your question. I think so?" The two stood in silence. The air felt still.

"You think so?" Angus sputtered. He was more confused then before. Beatrix just looked at him innocently. She nodded her head. "I think so. I'm pretty sure I've an Ultimate Talent, I…just can't remember it. Die Erinnerungen fehlen." She said, slightly forlorn. Angus threw his hands up in defeat.

He'd never felt so useless. He left his two companions to the arms of a robotic monstrosity, and now he was sitting with a crazy girl who couldn't remember her own talent. He leaned against the wall and felt himself once again getting lost in his own head.

 _What the hell are you still standing here for? You could be helping them, but your just here shooting the shit with a crazy German. What the hell's wrong with you, you idiot?_

 _ **You're afraid.**_

Angus shut his eyes, doing his best to ignore the voice in his head. The voices of doubt that bounced around his head used to be quiet, but as the years passed, they grew louder. They also became harder to ignore.

 _I'm not afraid…_

 _ **You're afraid of what you'll find if you go downstairs. That's why you haven't gone yet.**_

 _I'm not afraid of anything…_

 _ **You'd see them in pieces. Blood everywhere, and you'd have caused it. YOU'D be the reason they were dead.**_

 _I'm not allowed to be afraid…_

 _ **Dad's right. He's always right. You can't stand up for anything. When things go to shit you run. You always run…**_

 _It isn't my fault. I had to run. I'd have died just like them! I'm not fucking dying here…_

 _ **You can't keep anyone safe.**_

 _Shut up…_

 _ **You were born a coward. That can't be fixed.**_

 _I said shut up…_

 _ **You're pathetic. Mom left because YOU couldn't protect her…**_

"SHUT UP! SHUT THE FUCK UP," Angus screamed at the top of his lungs, startling Beatrix.

"STOP TALKING!" Angus continued to yell and shout. He pulled at his hair as his eyes began to well up with tears. Beatrix, concerned for her new companion, moved slowly towards the Arms Dealer, arm extended.

"Angus? Are you okay?" she asked, worriedly. Angus couldn't hear her, he was too lost in his own head. She moved too close to him and he pushed her to the floor in a blind swing. She landed on her butt, demoralized, but physically fine. Angus was shaking at this point; like he was dunked in freezing water. His breathing was hitched, and his legs felt weak.

Beatrix scowled and flew to her feet. She latched onto Angus' back.

"Beruhigen! Du benimmst dich verrückt. Entspannen Sie Sich!" She screamed, holding on as tight as she could while Angus attempted to buck her off. They were so busy with their scuffle that neither of them heard the game room door creaking open slowly.

"GET OFF! DON'T TOUCH ME!" Despite Beatrix's arms being nowhere near his neck, Angus felt like he was being strangled. Tears were streaming down his face by this point. In the middle of his struggle, Angus managed to find one of Beatrix's arm and yank forward over his shoulder; slamming her into the hard floor.

It completely knocked the wind out of her. She laid on the ground, gasping for breath. Angus grabbed her by her hair and pulled her to her knees. He shook her madly, yelling in her face.

"DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!" he screamed, shaking her violently.

 _ **You should be dead. Not them. You deserve it.**_

"STOP FUCKING TALKING" Angus kept yelling at the voices in his head.

"ANGUS, PLEASE! CALM DOWN!" Beatrix pleaded, but Angus was inconsolable. "I'M WARNING YOU!" she said, but Angus kept on shaking her. She realized he wasn't going to stop unless she made him.

So, she kneed him in the nuts.

Angus let go of her, stumbling backwards, cradling his damaged goods. He groaned in pain and began coughing. The coughing was cut of by a sharp sound piercing the air.

Then the wet sound of metal piercing flesh.

Beatrix stared in shock at the small harpoon sticking out of Angus' right shoulder. The silence was completely deafening as Beatrix turned toward her companion's assailant.

Standing at the door were two girls. The first one, the one not holding the harpoon gun, was rather short. She had smooth brown hair, green eyes, dark skin and an hourglass figure. Her chest was very flat, and she had a mole on her cheek. She had golden brown eyeliner with red lipstick.

She wore a sheepskin jacket with white wool overtop a purple dress shirt and black bow. She had a long purple skirt that had brown polka dots. She also had on white stockings and short brown heels. The most striking part of her ensemble was the top hat upon her head. The brown hat had black and brown feathers coming out the side. She looked terrified at her partners actions.

Said partner, the one with the harpoon gun, had long straight silver hair with greenish-blue eyes. She was tall, much taller then her partner. She was slender and willowy. She wore a light green cropped leather jacket, white tank top tucked into high-wasted black pants with high heeled black boots with laces the same shade of green as her jacket. Her look was complete with a black felt panama hat. She was completely expressionless; a black slate, as she held the harpoon gun up high.

"What the bloody hell was that, Ludivine!?" Not harpoon girl yelled. The harpoon girl, Ludivine, turned to her shorter accomplice.

"Precaution." She said coldly, a small smirk forming on her face. She placed the now empty harpoon gun into her pants pocket.

Angus stumbled back towards the wall, starring at the harpoon in his shoulder. He weakly turned his head towards Beatrix.

"Hey Beatrix," he said. "what the fuck just happened?" he asked, barely above a whisper.

"You…just got shot with a harpoon." She stated bluntly, unsure how to handle the situation. Angus sagely nodded his head, leaning on the wall for support.

"Oh, all right. That makes sense." He slid down the wall, and gently placed his hands on his wound. "FUCK!" he belted out. It was like he was trying to purge all his emotions in one single scream.

Ludivine and the other girl walked towards Beatrix and helped her to her feet. That's when she stuck out her hand. "My name is Ludivine Dupont: Ultimate Behavioral Psychologist. My partner here is Sophia Gulliame: Ultimate Play Director. Are you all right?" she asked. Her voice lacked concern. It was more curiosity then anything else. Beatrix looked over at the downed Angus, still groaning in pain.

"I'm fine, but…that felt unnecessary." She said quietly. Ludivine just chuckled. "I disagree completely. We saw everything. The sudden lash of violence? Talking to someone who isn't there? Your friend was very clearly having a brief psychotic episode. You were in danger, and he needed to be subdued. You're lucky I grabbed that gun from the warehouse downstairs."

"I think I have to agree with her, actually." Sophia spoke up. "There had to have been a better way to do that." Ludivine just scoffed.

"He was hysterical. He could've killed her." She said.

"I didn't though. That has to count for something." Angus groaned from the floor.

Sophia ran over and bent down next to the arms dealer. She stared at the harpoon sticking out of his shoulder and cringed at how deep it seemed.

"That…uh…that doesn't look great." The British girl said. Angus gave her a very deadpan stare. "Really? It doesn't? Well, shit I thought I was gonna make it. Fuck me, right?" Angus snarked and laid his head against the wall. Ludivine and Beatrix moved to where the two were sitting. Beatrix put her hand on his shoulder; the one without the harpoon in it.

"You are going to make it. No worries on that." She gave him the most comforting smile that she could muster at the moment. That just left Angus more confused. "Why're you even talking to me right now? You…should hate me." He said, being the quietest he'd been all day.

"You were scared of something. I can't be mad at you because you were scared. It's a scary situation. It's okay." Angus shut his eyes and couldn't fight the tears from welling up again.

 _ **She's known you for five minutes, and she already has you pegged. She knows you're a coward.**_

…

"We're gonna fucking die here." Angus whimpered, slamming his head on the wall. Sophia and Beatrix held him still; trying to console him. Ludivine's attention was focused somewhere else. She tuned out the three's panicked discussion and listened to what she thought sounded like heavy footsteps.

"Everyone quiet." She whispered yelled. Angus shut his eyes and untensed his muscle while Beatrix and Sophia put their full attention on her. Everyone sat in silence. Until the sound of fast approaching stomps became more prominent. Sophia squeaked in fear and ran to one of lockers and shut herself inside. Beatrix became frantic and pulled Angus to his feet. He clutched his shoulder in pain.

Ludivine backed away from the door, slowly approaching the vacant locker. Beatrix held onto Angus and looked over to the behavioral psychologist with a questioning look.

"I'd suggest finding a place to hide." She said before backing in and closing the locker.

The footsteps grew closer before stopping completely. Beatrix was struggling to keep Angus up and keep him quiet at the same time. He was mumbling to himself about nothing specific. She tried to shake him out of his delirious state, but her attempts were promptly halted by the swift slam against the closed door.

It sounded like whatever was trying to get in was throwing all its body weight into the poor flimsy door. Beatrix pulled Angus to the wall and waited for whatever was trying to get in to break through. It only took a few more seconds of waiting.

The door was thrown off its hinges entirely when the beast busted through. Like the monsters beforehand it had the same black and white color scheme, but this one looked more feline in nature. Cold metal plating was replaced with what looked to be a fuzzy felt, and cat-like ears sat on its head. A green three was printed on its chest, and its claws were long and sharp. It was bipedal and poised to strike. It was still mechanical. The whirring of gears was very audible.

The three stood locked in place; mechanical clanking was the only thing that could be heard. The cat like monster released a booming screech that sounded like a distorted cat scream and pounced at the two. It leaped over the pool table. It almost landed on the two of them, but they avoided the attack by moving in opposite direction. Angus went left, and Beatrix went right.

Beatrix ran near the arcade cabinet for some kind of cover while Angus stumbled around the pool table and toward the door. The creature set its eyes on the mobile Angus, who'd already reached the door frame.

It leaped back over the pool table and pounced onto the injured Angus. The two of them flew out of the room and against the balcony. The steel bars almost immediately gave in to the weight of the arms dealer and the gigantic machine. It took Angus a moment to realize that as he was falling backwards, there was no ground or wall behind him. A long drop awaited him and the beast.

"ANGUS!" he heard a voice yell. He recognized it almost immediately.

 _Joaquin…? Huh… At least HE made it, I guess…_

* * *

 **Happy Holidays!**

 **I hope the wait wasn't too bad. This chapter just kept getting longer and longer on me while I was writing it. I hope it didn't turn out too horrible. Thanks to everyone who sent in characters. I'm sorry they didn't get too much screen time, but I'm just trying to get everyone introduced. They'll get more focus once the actual story begins. Until I see everyone again, have a good holiday, and a happy new year!**

 _ **Ultimate's we've met: 9/16**_

 _ **Angus Hutchinson: Ultimate Arms Dealer**_

 _ **Feliks Dobrow: Ultimate Hacker**_

 _ **Joaquin Hidalgo: Ultimate Socialite**_

 _ **Megumi Sato: Ultimate Surgeon**_

 _ **Iroha Hori: Ultimate Honey-trapper**_

 _ **Shimei Takenaka: Ultimate Hiker**_

 _ **Beatrix Wagner: Ultimate ?**_

 _ **Ludivine Dupont: Ultimate Behavioral Psychologist**_

 _ **Sophia Gulliame: Ultimate Play Director**_


	4. Prologue: From Bad to Worse

"ANGUS!" Joaquin shouted in horror as he watched the arms dealer and the large creature break through the railing. The warehouse group, sans Feliks, burst through the double doors in a hurry to get away from the ape-like creature that was chasing them. They ended up running into a completely separate dilemma.

The railing creaked and cracked with the combined wait of Angus and the cat-like creature. The two began falling, but Angus managed to grab on to the bars. The cat wasn't so lucky.

It started free falling from the second level. On the way down, it hit its body off the hand of the Lady Justice statue, knocking against the scale and breaking the hand off. The cat and rubble hit the floor with a loud clatter, enough to send the warehouse group back in fear.

It slowly rose to its feet, shaking debris from its body. Once it had fully reoriented itself, it locked it sights on the warehouse group. Iroha readied her pipe and pushed Megumi behind her, who in turn was clutching her backpack in fear. Shimei stood behind Joaquin while the socialite slowly backed away, never turning away from the creature.

The monster began screeching, but it stopped when the sound of cracking marble grew louder. It looked at the base of the statue to see it was giving. The stone lady began crumbling. The cat tried to skitter away from the disaster but couldn't gain proper traction on the pristine white tiles.

The statue came down and cracked like thunder as it fell on top of the robot. Lady Justice shattered into tiny pieces, covering the monster in rubble. It let out one last ear-wrenching screech before falling still on the ground; black and red liquids pooling together on the floor from a crack in its head. It didn't get back up.

Joaquin didn't get a chance to relax before looking up at Angus dangling from the broken railing. He was holding onto it like a ladder for dear life. Joaquin and the rest of the group ran under the hanging rail.

"ANGUS!" Joaquin yelled again. "Are you okay?"

"Peachy," Angus yelled back. "I'm fucking great! I'm about to die! What else could I ask for in this shit fucking scenario!?" Joaquin flinched at the harsh tone in his voice. He had to think quick. A horrible idea then hit him like a freight train.

"JUMP!"

"WHAT?" he screamed back at the socialite.

"Just jump! We'll catch you!"

"We will?" Called an irritated Iroha. Joaquin just ignored her and kept his attention on Angus.

"There's no fucking way I'm jumping!" he yelled, subconsciously gripping the bars tighter. Joaquin sighed in irritation. The clock was ticking. It was only a matter of time before the railing gave away.

"Then climb back up!"

"I can't climb with this fucking thing in my arm!" Joaquin had only just now noticed the harpoon sticking out of Angus' shoulder. He was beginning to become frustrated with the arms dealer. He kind of figured Angus wasn't the cooperative type, but this was ridiculous.

"Then you're going to have to jump!" he yelled back, his patience running thin. Angus made a noise of indignation that came close to words before silence engulfed the group.

Then Angus let go of the railing.

Time slowed down as Joaquin prepared for impact. Megumi and Shimei waisted no time forming a circle with Joaquin, preparing to catch the arms dealer. Iroha was the last member of the group to join the circle as Angus shot towards the floor.

The group felt the impact immediately. Angus fell perfectly in the middle of the circle. They were pulled down by his wait, but the fall had most definitely been softened. If he hadn't died, then he'd've most likely broken his spine. Thanks to the warehouse group Angus' biggest worry was still the harpoon in his arm.

The group crumbled to the floor like a falling tower when Angus landed on top of them. Shimei flew forward and landed face first on the tiles, and Megumi and Iroha fell backwards once they let go of Angus.

In the collapse, Angus ended up landing directly on top of Joaquin. The two stared into each other's eyes for a spell before Joaquin broke the silence with a cocky grin.

"You have beautiful eyes, Cariño."

Angus responded by frantically pushing himself away from the socialite, making grumbling noises and sitting up against the wall. His face was beet red from embarrassment and anger. He took in a sharp breath and calmed himself, still gripping his bleeding shoulder.

"Thanks for the save." He said quietly. Joaquin gave him a genuine smile. "I'm glad to see that you're alive." He spoke. Angus couldn't look him in the eye.

 _You're lucky he's alive…_

"I can say the same to you." Angus muttered. He looked to his side and saw Shimei two inches from his face. The stared at each other for a moment before Angus quietly scooted away from her. He took in everyone who he didn't recognize.

"Hey," the arms dealer mumbled and nervously scratched at his scalp. "I'm…sorry…for what I pulled back in the…in the kitchen." The stress was evident in his voice and he couldn't look Joaquin in the eye. Iroha stepped between the two with a fire in her eyes.

"You should be." She said coldly, arms crossed across her chest. "You left him AND Feliks to the hands of whatever is hunting us. They could've died, you know?" The disdain was evident in her voice. Angus grimaced.

"And who the fuck are you exactly?" he sneered, the flames behind her eyes only grew. Joaquin stood between the two of them. "This lovely lady is Iroha Hori: a fellow Ultimate. Also, apology accepted Angus." The socialite shot the arms dealer his 1000-watt smile. He only responded with a grumble. Megumi pushed through the small crowed to get a good look at Angus' shoulder.

"OH GOD! What happened to you!" she yelped, dropping to her knees to inspect the harpoon.

"Ask the psycho bitch who shot me."

"Psycho? We found you attacking poor Beatrix. I'd say you'd be considered the psycho in that scenario, Crétin." A voice spoke from above the group. Ludivine and Sophia were standing at the broken area of the railing. Beatrix was already running toward the steps to check on Angus.

"At least I'm not walking around shooting people with harpoon guns!" Angus managed to yell before hissing in pain as Shimei poked the harpoon with her finger. Megumi shooed the hiker away before taking off her backpack and reaching inside. She pulled out a white box with a Staff of Hermes symbol on it. The words "For Megumi" were scribbled on the front with what looked like black marker. It reminded him of the bullet he'd found in his room.

 _Does everyone have something like that?_

Beatrix, Sophia and Ludivine walked over to the group. Beatrix slid across the floor and seated herself next to Angus. She was little closer then Angus was comfortable with.

"Are you alright, Angus?" she said, her voice full of concern.

"Oh yeah," he spat, his words lined with sarcasm. "I'm fucking dandy. I love being trapped in this minimalist shithole with a fucked-up nose, sore balls, and a fucking HARPOON IN MY SHOULDER!"

"Sore balls?" asked Joaquin.

"Long story. Shut up."

"Understood."

"Please calm down, Angus. I can't work if you're volatile." Megumi said, trying to keep the angry arms dealer calm.

Angus turned to her. "You a doctor or something?" Megumi just smiled.

"A surgeon, actually. Megumi Sato."

"Pleasure to meet you, Megumi. It's a damn shame we couldn't meet under better circumstances."

The surgeon nodded her head in agreement and lifted Angus' arm above him. He grunted in displeasure. His face went white as he realized her plan.

"Please fucking don't. I'm begging you." He pleaded. She shot him a sympathetic look.

"I need to remove it so we can bandage it and stop the bleeding. I can't bandage the wound with the harpoon still in." She turned to the two closest people: Joaquin and Beatrix. "Keep him still."

The two wordlessly grabbed Angus to keep him from squirming. He didn't have a chance to react before Megumi yanked the harpoon from his shoulder. Joaquin, thinking quickly, slithered behind Angus and locked his arm around his mouth, trying to muffle the boy's yells of anguish. They couldn't risk the extra noise attracting the monsters chasing them. They were completely out in the open with no quick escape.

With lightning speed, Megumi pulled out a roll of gauze and began bandaging his damaged arm. When she was finished the blood seeping through the bandage was barely visible due to the level of bandaging. Joaquin and Beatrix let go of the arms dealer and promptly started throwing his fist into the tiled floor in pain.

"FUCK!" he shouted, causing everyone to jump back in surprise. Megumi put away her equipment. "That will hold for now," she stated. "but that will only work for so long. Honestly, I'm surprised you haven't gone into shock." Ludivine coughed to get the groups attention. Everyone turned to her, sans Angus, who was still hyper focused on his own injury.

"Now that Angus' has had his moment, can we please go back to focusing on the matter at hand?"

Iroha raised her eyebrow. "Which matter, specifically?"

"Where exactly we are."

The group didn't have a response to that. She was right, no one knew where they were or how they'd gotten there. Everyone was stuck on the same boat; waking up in a dark locked room with no recollection as to what happened before they ended up trapped.

"I'm assuming that nobody in this room recognizes each other?" asked Sophia, speaking up. She was a little bit away from the rest of the group, as if trying to say, "the moment something goes wrong, I'm gone".

The room once again fell silent after her question. That is, until one voice spoke up.

"I know her." Joaquin said, pointing his finger at Sophia. "Sophia Gulliame, right? You're a play director." Sophia looked surprised to be recognized, but then crossed her arms as a smug grin covered her face.

"I'm not surprised you know of me." She said curtly.

"You know her?" questioned Iroha.

"" _So, Goes the Night"_ , " _Capricorn_ ", " _Death of Leland Warner_ ". All lined up to be modern classics." Joaquin smiled. The feeding of ego was evident. Angus chuckled coldly.

"So, goes the night sounds like a shitty soap opera."

"Shouldn't you be in shock already?" asked Iroha, snidely.

"You know what? Because you asked that, I'm purposefully not going to go into shock. Fuck you."

"Angus." Beatrix said sternly, sounding annoyed.

Shimei raised her small hand. "Guys. I think we're missing the most obvious thing possible when it comes to us being connected." Angus snorted.

"Oh yeah? What's that, small fry?" Beatrix elbowed him in the side. Shimei ignored his comment and continued on.

"We're all Ultimates, right? That means we were all scouted by Hope's Peak!" she shouted, jumping in excitement.

For the third time, the group fell silent. She was right. In order to earn an official title as an Ultimate, you had to be scouted by the elite school of Hope's Peak Academy. Angus was no different. Though his father's business had a seedy underbelly, it was still seen as a respectable business on the surface. It made sense that they sought him out, and no one speaking up against the hiker's point sealed the deal for them.

"Okay," said Megumi. "we were all scouted out by Hope's Peak, but that still doesn't explain where we are and why we're here."

"We won't get any answers just standing around, now will we?" stated Beatrix.

As the conversation continued Angus found himself zoning out. He looked around at the group, seeing their mouths move but not hearing the words. He counted the heads and made a realization that made his stomach churn.

"Where's Feliks?" he asked, his voice quiet. The groups bickering stopped as they did their own individual head counts. The only one who wasn't was one Iroha Hori.

She stepped forward holding a familiar grey baseball cap.

The group looked at the item with wide eyes. Angus had gone as pale as a sheet. Once again, words swirled around him, but it was as if a bomb had gone off on the inside of his head.

 _ **He's dead. You could've done something…**_

 _It's not my fault nor my problem. If he was dumb enough to get himself killed, then fuck him. Shit happens._

" _Shit happens, Angus. Life'll only ever fuck you over, so you gotta learn to cheat the system."_

Angus attempted to tune out his dad, but his words wouldn't leave him be. He used the support of the wall to pull himself to his feet and start stumbling away from the group.

"Where are you going?" Joaquin called to him. He turned back.

"I'm gonna find a way out of here. I'm taking a proactive approach to my survival."

"You shouldn't be left unattended." Ludivine said. Nobody had noticed, but she'd reloaded the harpoon gun with an extra harpoon she had stored in her jacket. Angus just scoffed.

"Fuck that. I'm not going anywhere with you. I'm not looking to get shot again." Ludivine chuckled. "And who's to say I want to go with you? Last thing I want is for you to have another unprovoked outburst and attack me. However, SOMEONE should go with you."

Beatrix hopped to her feet. "I'll go with him!" She ran toward Angus and linked arms with him. He grunted in irritation, but kept walking away, Beatrix trailing behind him. Ludivine spent another moment in thought before speaking.

"Covering more ground isn't a bad idea. I'll go with Sophia and…you." She pointed at Shimei. She responded by giving a half-cocked salute and running to Sophia's side. "We'll go and look at the other cells, see if anyone else needs to be freed. Iroha, Megumi and Joaquin: you'll go upstairs. See if you can find any hints as to where were are."

Megumi looked confused. "Hints? That's a weird way to describe it. This isn't a game." Ludivine didn't say anything, she just stared at Megumi, as if trying to read her mind. The look on her face was dead serious.

"Well, it is a game of sorts isn't it? Here we are, trapped in a building with no obvious way out, being hunted by monsters who are looking to detain us. It's an escape room with some edge to it. I've got to say I'm enjoying myself."

The surgeon was shocked. This wasn't a game. They were being hunted. How could she be so nonchalant about the situation? How could she be okay with it? Ludivine turned away.

"Let's disperse. Everyone get together with your groups. We'll meet back here in about thirty minutes or so. Sophia, Shimei." She started walking away from the group, and her two cohorts followed after her. That left only Joaquin, Iroha and Megumi standing in the middle of the main hall. The three stood in an uncomfortable silence before Joaquin did what he normally did in social situations and took the initiative.

"Well, let's get moving then. I'd hate to get on Ms. Dupont's bad side. Shall we ladies?" he asked, sauntering toward the spiral stair case. The two girls shared a look before tentatively following after him.

* * *

"I can't believe they're actually listening to her."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because she shot me in the fucking shoulder. Now I may be aggressive, but I haven't shot anyone with a harpoon gun yet."

"Would you have had it been YOU with the harpoon gun?"

"That's not important." Angus said gruffly, sinking deeper into the leather arm chair. Beatrix sat across from him, a chess board in between them. They watched as the two groups in the middle of the foyer separated. "What's important is that they know that she's capable of violence, and yet are still following her lead."

"Maybe they're afraid of her. She did shoot you with a harpoon. Mother always says that a great leader is born through action." She said, a bright smile across her face. Angus sank deeper into his chair.

"Your mother sounds like the type of person to shoot someone with a harpoon gun."

Beatrix gasped. "Mother would never!" Angus scoffed.

 _This girl…_

He was very confused. By all accounts, this girl should want nothing to do with him. He was rude and pushy, and he'd also almost killed her. Yet here she sat across from him, twiddling her thumbs, chatting amicably, as if they weren't trapped in this place. The girl let out a comically long sigh.

"What are we doing just sitting here? We should be out looking for others."

"Pfft! You actually think there are others?" Angus questioned.

"Oh course!" Beatrix gestured to the four corners of the foyer. "If we assume that each of the four rooms we came from have four cells a piece, then that would make for SIXTEEN of us in total! There's only eight of us right now."

"Nine."

"Hm?"

"There's nine of us."

Beatrix shook her head, confused. "There were only eight of us."

Angus stared, confused. He did a mental had count and remembered…

 _Feliks…_

The arms dealer felt the weight of his missing companion fall onto him once again. According to the baseball cap Iroha was holding, something had happened to the hacker. Angus was stuck between tearing up the place searching for him or to accept that there was a good chance he was dead.

 _ **Because of you…**_

Angus felt his headache grow stronger. He rubbed his forehead, trying to lessen the pain. The voice had a point. There's a good chance Feliks would still be around had he not run away. He hated letting the voice speak, but it usually made good points.

"Do you wanna play chess?" Beatrix asked innocently.

Angus raised his eyebrow. "Chess? You want to play chess?" Beatrix just shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, if we aren't going to go looking for anybody, then we should do SOMETHING." She said picking at the pieces on the board in front of her. "Do you want to be black or white? White goes first, but I guess we don't necessarily need to keep that rule if you'd like. Mother always told-, "

"I don't know how to play chess." Angus interrupted.

"Hm?"

"I said I don't know how to play chess," he said again, flicking over a black pawn. "knowledge I never needed." Beatrix let out a little giggle that she failed to smother with her hand. Angus grew red in the face.

"What's so funny? I don't know how to play chess? I sell guns, I don't need to know how to play shitty checkers." Beatrix just continued giggling into her hand.

"I'm not laughing at you," she corrected. "I just think it's cute. That's all." She said, resting her head on her chin. Angus' face only grew redder as he choked on air.

"I'm not cute. Not a single thing about me is cute! You want to laugh at me? Huh? How about we talk about your short comings, Ms. "I Don't Remember My Talent"." Angus barked, gnashing his teeth. Beatrix immediately pulled back, a shocked expression adorned her face. Angus immediately felt bad. Everyone always told him that his lack of a filter would get him killed someday. He'd gotten into his fair share of scuffles because he didn't know when to stop running his mouth. He never knew when enough was enough.

"Sorry," he said sitting up. "I shouldn't've…been so…,"

"Rude?"

"There it is. Yeah. Rude."

Beatrix sighed. She couldn't meet Angus' eyes. Her head was hung in what Angus presumed was shame. "You aren't wrong, I suppose. I've been confused since I woke up. A part of my brain keeps telling me that I have an Ultimate Talent, but…," she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

"I have no memory of anything like that. It's always been me and my mother, I always help her with chores and such. I can't remember a talent, but I could swear I have one! And there's this burning feeling in my head and-,"

"Woah!" Angus said quickly, trying to cut off the girls' frantic rant. "It's cool. Don't…try and force the memories back. I'm sure they'll come back naturally. That's how memories work, right?" Angus said shrugging. He had no clue what he was talking about, but he was willing to say anything to calm the girl down.

It seemed to work as Beatrix took in a long breath and leaned back in her chair. "You alright?" Angus asked, trying not to let her hear the concern in his voice. She shot him a bright smile and leapt to her feet.

"Come on," she said beaming with enthusiasm. "we're gonna go find others like Ludivine said. Dann gehen wir zusammen raus." She accidentally slipped back into her native tongue in her excitement.

Angus let out a long sigh before pulling himself to his feet. The last thing he wanted to do was wander around their prison and risk running into any other dangers, but Beatrix wasn't going to leave without him, so it was easier to go along with her plan.

The German girl linked arms with the arms dealer, dragging him towards one of the rooms with cells to check for anyone still locked up.

"Also, once we're out of here, I'm going to teach you how to play chess!"

"Who the hell said we were going to hangout once we're out?"

"I did! I said that!"

Despite how annoyed he was, Angus had to fight off a small smile from forming.

* * *

Megumi Sato was never one to scare easily.

Being a surgeon required nerves of steel. One slip of the wrist or one moment of hesitance could mean the difference between a smooth recovery or a permanent handicap. Her occupation demanded her to never falter. Thousands of close surgeries had hardened her nerves. She was convinced that she could handle anything.

However, she'd be the first to admit that her current situation had her rattled.

When Megumi woke up in her cell, she had been more confused then anything. Of course, that natural confusion slowly waded away into panic. Her fear stagnated when she found the first-aid kit under bed that quite literally had her name on it. This wasn't some random attack; she was here for a reason. Leaving her the kit told her that they knew who she was and knew her history.

Then Iroha found her.

As mysterious and blunt as the honey-trapper was, Megumi would be lying if she said that her company wasn't appreciated. She made her feel safe. A big group was good, but she wasn't sure how much she could trust them. Angus was a little too aggressive for her tastes, and Ludivine had left her, frankly, sort of scared. So, she was happy to stick with Iroha, and Joaquin seemed like good enough company.

"I think you let him off too easy."

"Too easy? Did you want me to scream at him?"

"I didn't say that, but actions deserve repercussions."

Now if only they could stop bickering.

The trio continued up the spiral staircase. Iroha and Joaquin had very quickly reignited their talk of ethics and a proper punishment for Angus' earlier mistakes. Joaquin, being the forgiving soul that he was, saw the arms dealer's apology as enough of a payment. Iroha…didn't agree.

"Guys," Megumi said reaching the top of the staircase, "can we cool it, please? You can argue all you want once we're out of here."

The second floor was very linear. Three normal looking doors and one set of double doors, and a gated off staircase. The third door, the one farthest away from the stairs, was where Angus and the cat creature broke and fell through the railing. The double doors were the closest to the staircase.

"We weren't arguing, Doctor," Joaquin stated, "We were having a…friendly debate."

Megumi crossed her arms and shot the socialite a questioning look. Joaquin and Iroha stared at their feet awkwardly. "Sorry Megumi." Iroha apologized quietly.

"Si lo siento." Joaquin followed suit with his own apology.

Megumi smiled, "No need to apologize. We just need to keep our heads together."

Iroha Hori was beginning to feel bad. She was never this hostile to people, but the stress of the situation was starting to get to her. She might've been giving Joaquin a hard time, but Angus had done something wrong, and consequences were a necessity if people were to learn. Finding Megumi had made her feel much better about their dilemma. She liked to consider herself a good judge of character, and she could tell that Megumi was good people.

Joaquin leaned on the double doors and pointed toward the busted railing. "That's where Angus fell. I'm pretty sure he said that was a game room."

"Then we should start here." Iroha said, pushing past Joaquin and walking through the double doors. Joaquin looked to Megumi, wondering what he did wrong. Megumi could only shrug her shoulders as she and Joaquin followed after the honey-trapper.

* * *

The library that the trio walked into was probably the least baron place they'd seen since waking up. Despite retaining the same white coloring, the room had a little more personality with the different colored books lining the shelves.

That wasn't what caught their attention, however. What surprised them was the girl standing in the middle of the room, facing away from them.

Her hair was shoulder length and sea green in color. It came down in waves onto her shoulders. A pair of silver glasses adorned her face. Her clothes were formal looking, consisting of a dark red blazer with gold buttons, a white dress shirt, and a pencil skirt of the same color that reached just above her knees and low red heels.

A black legal pad sat comfortably in her arms as the pen in her hand moved across the page a mile a minute. She was completely engrossed in her note taking. She didn't notice the trio immediately.

When she did, however, the three came face to face with a striking pair of gold colored eyes. She also had a small mole under right eye.

She looked surprised to see new faces, but not scared. A small friendly smile formed on her face as she walked towards them. She walked with compete confidence; no fear in her strut.

She held her hand out to the group, "It's good to see new faces. Friends, I'm assuming?" she said raising her eyebrow. Iroha made no move to accept the hand. Megumi was about to take it but Iroha grabbed her sleeve before she could. Leaving Joaquin to do the greeting.

"That we are," he said enthusiastically. "I'm Joaquin, and this is Megumi and Iroha."'

"Ritsu Enomoto: Ultimate Prosecutor."

She placed her legal pad inside of her blazer and looked off toward the back of the library.

"Are you going to make me come and get you?" she asked to nobody.

Megumi awkwardly kicked the ground, "Uhm... Who're you talking to?" she asked, perplexed.

Ritsu turned back around and chuckled quietly. "Are you really going to make me come back there?"

The sound of clicking on tile could be heard as, of all things, a rooster peaked out from behind a shelf that's jutted out from the wall. Its feathers were dark orange and black in color. The only other noticeable thing about it was that it was big. Ritsu sighed at the sight of the animal.

"I didn't mean you, Gallus." The prosecutor pinched the bridge of her nose and walked over to the bookshelf; the trio following after her.

What they saw was a boy sitting on the floor, hugging his feet close to his chest with his head. The rooster, Gallus, sat by the boy's side. It kept its eye on the four in front of it.

His hair was dark purple and messy. His skin was slightly tanned, and his figure was slim. He had on a red and black flannel long sleeved shirt and olive-green cargo pants.

He looked at the group, briefly revealing pink eyes from under his bangs. He put his arm around the rooster in a defensive manner. He slowly got to his feet, Gallus in his arms. He looked uncomfortable but did his best to smile.

"I'm M-Manato Ondori: The U-ultimate Cock Fighter…" the boy said nervously.

The group took in the info before Joaquin cracked a smile and spoke up.

"That's too easy. There's no fun in that one." He chuckled. Manato looked confused before placing Gallus on top of the bookshelf.

"And this is Gallus. He's my closest friend."

"And you're a cock fighter," Iroha asked as Joaquin stifles a giggle, "does that mean that Gallus here has…?" Manato sighed and rubbed his shoulder.

"Yes. Gallus has been in plenty of fights, b-but if you d-don't mind," Manato stuttered. Iroha put her hand up to stop him. Her question had clearly made him uncomfortable, so she didn't wish to press him. "It's fine, no need to push yourself." Megumi stepped forward.

"Right! You're among friends here!" She said excitedly. "I'm Megumi, and this is Joaquin and Iroha. It's a pleasure to meet both of you!" Ritsu smiled warmly and Manato blushed, unable to meet the surgeon's eyes. Joaquin wanted to join in on the now jovial tone Megumi helped create. They'd found a few new faces; friendly ones at that! Manato, despite being shy, seemed nice enough. He didn't like how Gallus was looking at him, however. He'd known dogs and cats to be fiercely protective of their owners, but the chicken that was sitting on the bookshelf just kept turning its head from one person to another. It was if it was studying them.

Manato was fine, but it was Ritsu that fascinated him. There was something about her that he couldn't pin point. It wasn't a negative feeling, nor was it necessarily a positive one. It was something about her demeanor that had him thinking. She was polite; cordial. Megumi and Iroha didn't seem to see it.

It was something in her eyes.

Despite the warm smile and pleasantries, there was a cold determination in her eyes. A ferociousness that couldn't be missed. It wasn't bad per se, but it spoke volumes of the person she was on the inside. He'd have to keep an eye on her.

"Now that we're properly acquainted," Ritsu spoke up, "I think we should compare notes."

"Notes?" Megumi asked.

Ritsu nodded her head. "Notes. We should compare what we've seen, compile our combined info, and figure out what to do from there."

They did just that. The trio spilled their guts to their new companions about everything they'd seen. Ritsu and Manato did the same. They'd been released separately. Ritsu had found Manato and Gallus in the game room. They stayed there and got acquainted before they explored the rest of the second floor. They explained that it was made up of the library, game room, a classroom, and a nurse's office. The last one peeked Megumi's interest. That'd be a big help later, especially if she wanted to properly fix up Angus. The bandage would do for now, but it'd only help stave off infection for so long.

"So, we should meet up with your group, right?" Manato asked, stroking Gallus like a cat. The cock fighter had calmed down since the conversation started. He was still having difficulty making eye contact, especially with Joaquin (mainly because he wouldn't stop winking at him), but his stutter had gone away for the most part.

"We should," Iroha said, "we'll go around, check every room up here, then head back down to the main hall."

"Sounds like a plan." Joaquin said, flashing his million-dollar smile. Ever since their disagreement in the warehouse things had been awkward between the two, and Joaquin hated walking on eggshells. He was never one to back down from a challenge, and if Iroha wanted to be friends the hard way, then so be it!

The pleasantries continued until a distant thumping sound could be heard. No one moved and the conversations stopped. The thumping was getting closer and a lot quicker. It continued until it was right outside the doors. Manato grabbed Gallus and ducked behind the bookshelf. Iroha, Megumi and Joaquin moved together, forming a triangle. Ritsu took two steps back, her eyes trained on the doors.

The doors swung open, almost flying off its hinges, and a gorilla like creature stood before them.

It swung its fists into the ground, causing it to shake. Megumi and Iroha clung to each other to not fall. Joaquin, with no one to latch onto, fell to his knees from the quake. Ritsu steadied herself against the bookshelf and moved backwards, trying to distance herself from the monster. As Joaquin said his prayers and Manato held Gallus close they prepared for the worst.

They didn't expect a small body to pop up from behind the monster.

Mounted on the back of the creature was a young man of extremely small stature. He was decked head to toe in a black and white jester costume. His pants were split down the middle in color (same with his shirt), he had one black shoe and one white one, a jester hat, white mittens, frills around his neck and a black cloak.

The monster ran forward, screeching its head off as it reached for the clown on its back. As it spun in a circle, they could all see the white devil's tail strapped around his waist.

"Uee hee hee~ Around and around we go!" the clown chanted, gripping the monsters felt ears tightly. He yanked to one side, shifting the creature's weight and causing it to stumble into a shelf. It fell to the ground, covered in fallen books, and laid unmoving. The clown scrambled out of the pile of books and toward the group.

Now that the little clown (he was 4'8") was standing in front of them, they could see the black and white mask he was wearing, a permanent smile stained the plastic. He was giggling to himself, hopping from one foot to the other.

"My toy is broken, broken~ Chaos reigns! So…much…FUN!" The clown jumped into the air, thoroughly scaring the group.

Except for Ritsu.

The prosecutor stepped forward and bent down to be at eye level with the little ball of energy. She smiled.

"That was very impressive, taking down that monster. Do you have a name?" The clown's giggly grew into full blown hysteric laughter.

"Name? Names are meaningless, friend! I've gone by many, many names!"

Ritsu raised an eyebrow. "Well, is there something we could call you?"

The giggling slowed down and then stopped completely. As slowly as he could manage, the clown reached up and removed his mask; causing Ritsu to stare into oblivion.

His skin was pale, and his face was thin. The suit did a good job at hiding what was, by all accounts, wiry frame. He had black marking around his eyes, similar to those that were in his mask, and his eyes were a swirling void of dark purple. It looked as if a haze had built up behind them. He smiled a face splitting grin, showing off a set of slightly sharpened teeth.

"I am Chaos."

That had halted the group. No one knew what to say, but Megumi found her voice.

"C-Chaos?" she squeaked.

The clown wouldn't stop giggling; rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. His Cheshire cat like grin looked reading to rip his face in two. He took a small bow, the bells on his hat jiggling.

"Chaos," he said again, "I am such and it is I. Chaos~," he chortled.

Joaquin stepped forward. "Uhm. I'm sorry, payaso, but how did you…you know…," he gestured to the pile of books.

"Chaos" continued to laugh. "I made a friend, friend! I wanted to play, so I played! Simple as simple can be!" he stated bluntly, as if it were the most obvious thing on the planet.

Iroha was the next to step forward. "That's fine and all, but how did-,"

She was cut off by the sound of a loud mechanical whirring. The group, sans Chaos, who was giggling to himself, turned to the book pile, now shaking. The gorilla like creature pulled itself from the pile, clanking and screeching. As it screeched, Chaos cheered.

"JOYUS! My friend has awoken! The game continues!"

No one spoke. They only acted. Megumi grabbed Iroha's arm and bolted for the doors; Joaquin did the same. Manato, with Gallus in hand, followed suit. Ritsu was the last to leave, but before she did, she snatched up Chaos under her arm. The group made it through the double doors, but the monster was on top of them.

There was nowhere to go.

* * *

Sophia Gulliame was terrified.

If waking up in an unfamiliar place wasn't enough, she'd almost immediately been attacked by a cat like monster that almost ripped her to shreds. She was lucky enough to escape and hide under a cot in the nurse's office. She'd gotten lucky. It was around then that Ludivine had found her.

 _I got lucky, but I don't think I can trust her. You saw what she did to that guy._

"I could show you the word~"

 _I find a way out of here, and I'm home free. The rest could bugger off for all I care!_

"Shinning, shimmering, splendid~"

 _I can't risk separating from them, though. You're prideful, Sophia. You know that. Put the pride aside for a second…_

"Tell me, princess, now when did you last let your heart decide~"

"Will you stop bloody singing!?" screeched the play director.

Shimei Takenaka: The Ultimate Hiker sang as if there wasn't a worry in the world. She was connected to the hip of Ludivine Dupont like she'd disappear if she let go. The psychologist didn't seem to mind, her walk in no way slowed down by the extra weight she was dragging.

The green haired girl giggled. "JEEZ, Sophie! You need to lighten up a little. You should sing the next verse with me!" All Sophia could do was grit her teeth in response as Ludivine chuckled under her breath.

"Yes, _Sophie,_ do join in on the next verse. You write music for your plays, but can you sing yourself?" she asked, not even trying to hide her mocking tone.

Sophia could not sing.

By the look Ludivine was giving her, it was almost as if she knew the play director couldn't sing and was just trying to give her a hard time. It didn't surprise her though. In the short time Sophia had known Ludivine it had become extremely clear that the girl was scarily good at her job. It was like the psychologist could see into her very being.

Ludivine stared at the British girl, "Your lollygagging is eating up precious time, Sophia. Be more like Shimei and pick up your pace, will you?"

Shimei playfully stuck her tongue out, only making Sophia more upset. Their independent search of the cafeteria turned nothing up, other then a completely trashed kitchen. Yeah, they were probably going to have to put those tables back.

The trio approached the back-right corner of the main hall towards the door that lead to more cells. The area where both Ludivine and Sophia were locked up was a fruitless search as the other two cells were empty.

The three walked through the doorway and into the stark white hallway. It was the same as the rest, four large cell doors right in a row.

"So," Sophia piped up, "How we want to do this?"

She got her response in the form of Shimei letting go of Ludivine and walking up to the first door and swiftly knocking on it, giving it three solid hits. Silence filled the hall before there was three knocks back from the other side of the door. Shimei looked to the other two with a wide smile. Ludivine gave her a thumbs up while Sophia frantically waved her arms in attempt to get her to stop. Shimei unlocked the door and swung it open.

A beat of silence passed before a form stepped out of the darkness. The boy that stepped out was of a fair complexion and slim build. His eyes were upturned and silver- covered by white bifocal glasses. His hair was charcoal black and kept neat in a sort of bowl cut, mostly covered by a black beret.

For clothes, he was wearing a white long-sleeved dress shirt with black suit suspenders that were only attached around his shoulders, not at all tied or clipped to his pants. On the bottom he was wearing dark blue jeans with leather shoes at the bottom. Around his pants, a leather belt where he kept a mall satchel. A cold necklace hung from his neck and a white flu mask sat comfortably over his mouth.

He looked over the group, almost scanning them, gauging their reactions to him. Sophia reacted how you'd expect; terrified. Ludivine stepped forward to stand with Shimei.

The pale boy moved a dainty finger and pulled down his mask, a slight scowl adorning his lips.

"I suppose a thank you is in order for my "daring rescuers"?" he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. His silver eyes doing their best to shout, "I'M BETTER THAN YOU!".

Ludivine, never one to be challenged, smirked at the young man. "I'd say it is, yes." She extended her hand for a shake. "Ludivine Dupont."

The boy looked at the offending appendage for a moment before tentatively accepting.

"I am Negenama Yori, and I'm the Ultimate Private Tutor." As the words left his mouth, Shimei pushed Ludivine out of the way and grabbed Negenama's hand in her own tiny mitts, shaking it aggressively. The smile on her face was as bright as the sun.

"I'M SHIMEI! THE ULTIMATE HIKER! IT'S GOOD TO MEET A NEW FRIEND!" Shimei yelled, zero control on her volume. She was just excited at the prospect of a new companion.

Unlike the thinly veiled hesitance he showed Ludivine, the private tutor all but screamed at Shimei's touch. He pulled his hand away and yelped in a very unmanly manner. Shimei looked surprised, staring with wide eyes. Ludivine tried to suppress her laughter.

The boy regained his composure, "I... apologize for that outburst. However, I must ask that in the time we are here, we keep apart from each other. I find your odor," he adjusted his glasses. "displeasing."

"My odor?" the girl asked innocently.

Negenama fiddled with his flu mask. "Your odor, yes. It's...pungent...to say the least. You're quite literally covered in dirt smudges, and you certainly smell it."

Shimei stuck her face into her armpit and took a long whiff, trying to detect what Negenama was smelling. This only helped to skeeve out the boy more. Sophia finally decided to jump into the conversation.

"We've been looking for a way out of here, but we wanted to find anyone else who might've still been locked up." the play director said quietly. She couldn't meet the boys cold gaze. She had never been one to bend to the whims of those she found attractive, but there was something about the sharp dressed boy in front of her that made it hard to not stare. Maybe it was the air of confidence that he held, or the cold look in his eyes, but it was sure as shit something. She just wished she could pin it down.

The scoffed before looking at the three other shut doors. "Well, who're we to keep them waiting then, hm?" Ludivine shrugged her shoulders and approached the second door, unlocked it, and swung it open.

They were expecting to find someone else, but the person that santered out of the cell was...different. His hair was short and shaggy in style, and blood red in color. His eyes were bright yellow, almost gold. His skin was as pale as a ghost and he was clean shaven; there wasn't a hair out of place. His figure was thin and willowy, almost feminine.

He wore a white button up dress shirt with the first few buttons unbuttoned to reveal some of his chest, a dark maroon waistcoat with round silver buttons buttoned up all the way, a dark red silk scarf wrapped around his neck and tucked into his dress shirt like almost fashioned like an ascot, and black dress pants with a dark brown belt. He had on pointed black dress shoes with red accents on the shoes' design with black socks on his feet, a long black coat that ended near his waistline that has cuffed dark red sleeves with red buttons that was left open. He wore a pair of maroon doctors' gloves, and a pale blue doctors mask hung loosely around his neck. The mask had what looked like a fang emblem designed onto it, along with little red splotches scattered across it.

The boy stepped out of the shadows, a small smirk on his face. He held out his arms. "Weep mortals, for you are in the presence of darkness in carnet." He said in much to calm a voice. He took a long bow before shaking Ludivine's hand. "I'm in your debt. Thank you for freeing me from my tomb. I suppose you're owed an introduction. You're in the presence of Count Junji Otsuka, Ultimate Vampire."

You could hear a pin drop. Everyone waited for some kind of hint to show he was joking. A grin, a laugh, a twitch, anything, but it never came. They just continued looking at each other, stunned at the complete seriousness of his words. This continued until the boy, Junji, sighed in defeat.

"You don't believe me, do you? Well, I cannot say that I'm surprised. Most people usually double take when I share that information. Though I am the Ultimate Vampire, my more technical title would be that of the Ultimate Hirudotherapist."

Sophia raised an eyebrow. "Hirudotherapist?".

"Hirudotherapist," started Negenama, "The use of leeches for medical therapy. From hirudin, the active principle in the salivary secretion of leeches that acts as a potent anticoagulant."

"Precisely. It allows me to work intimately with my most important life line." He said slyly.

Sophia sucked down a dry swallow before speaking. "You mean?"

Junji snaked his way in between Ludivine and Negenama to come up behind Sophia, planting his hands on her shoulders. He was completely silent while doing it, as if moving without making any noise was as simple as breathing.

"Blood." He whispered into her ear, making her shiver.

 _Where are all these well-dressed pretty boys coming from!?_

He slithered away from the play director to stand before the group once again. He scanned the group, allowing them to drink in his presence. Junji opened his mouth to continue his spiel, but his face turned white; whiter than it already was.

The four turned around to look at what the hirudotherapist was looking at, but they immediately regretted it.

Blocking the entirety of the exit was a familiar lanky monster with a familiar number two printed on its chest. It loomed over the group, blocking out one of the overhead lights with its height.

Only Shimei recognized the creature, but that didn't stop everyone else from being absolutely terrified. Shimei clung to Ludivine and Sophia clung to Negenama. Junji, attempting to put on a strong face, stepped forward, but the beads of sweat rolling down his forehead betrayed him.

It was Ludivine who acted first, pulling out her harpoon gun from her belt and firing a shot. It connected; hitting the monster in its left eye. It sounded like shattering glass, and a few blue sparks shot from the socket, but other than that, it seemed unaffected.

Then it started approaching them.

* * *

"Have I made it clear that I'm still not on board with this? If not, I am NOT on board with this."

"You've said it multiple times, yes."

"Sarcasm, Beatrix…"

Angus Hutchinson, still clutching his injured shoulder, leaned against the hall wall. Beatrix Wagner was looking down the steel cell door. They'd already checked the first two, and they were empty. The first one they had opened was the one Beatrix was originally inside, but she didn't know who the other empty cell belonged to. Now here they stood, in front of the third door, and Angus had a bad feeling in his gut.

Now, Angus was impulsive, he knew that better than anybody, but if there was one thing he trusted above all else, it was his gut. That base instinct deep inside him that hadn't steered him wrong in his eighteen years of life. He wasn't really in the market of running the risk of betraying the ONE thing that's always had his back.

Beatrix had one hand on the handle and her eyes were on the arms dealer. Strange cookie, this girl was. It felt like she had short term memory loss, first he has an "episode", then he gives her a hip throw on hard tiles, now here she was, looking at him expectantly.

And offering to teach him how to play chess…

He laughed in his head. Him? A chess player? Laughable. She'd seemed serious though. There was no jest or chide in her words, her offer appeared genuine. That was somehow the most surprising thing to happen since he'd woken up here.

"Are you okay?" she asked innocently.

Angus finally looked up toward the mystery girl. "I'm fine. Just...just open the fucking door. Get it over with, please." he waved her off, trying to seem as unconcerned as possible.

She nodded her head and opened the door. Almost as soon as there was a gap, a body pushed itself through.

The body, belonging to a boy, was fair skin with dark purple eyes. He was tall, much taller than Beatrix, or Angus. His thick silver colored hair was longer in the front than in the back, with the front reaching his jawline. The part was down the middle, although a strand did fall down the center of his face. The back of his hair reached to the bottom of his neck. His hair was messy, but a sort of stylish messy that showed he made it like that.

He was wearing a white three-piece suit with a black long sleeve button up shirt with white buttons, a white bow tie, and black dress shoes. He also wore a black pork pie hat with a red rose in it and white gloves. The thing that stood out most about him was the black walking stick with a diamond shaped ruby knob handle he was clutching.

He turned to his rescuers, his look of fear quickly turning to one of joy. Before they could react, the tall boy scooped them both up in a bone crushing hug. That helped them both realize that the boy was strong, surprisingly strong.

"Thank you! Thank you, both of you! I'm in your debt! I'd've gone insane if I stayed in there for one more minute." The boy let them go, leaving the two uncomfortable. Beatrix shook the boys' hand, trying to match his enthusiasm. "I'm Beatrix, and this is Angus!"

"Beatrix and Angus? Perfect! Beautiful names for beautiful people! My name is Ramsey King, and…," he trailed off, looking around, "I'd hate to ask you this, but you wouldn't happen to know where we are, would you?"

The two filled Ramsey in on everything that had happened up until that point. It left the boy more curious than confused, which was surprising.

"Very interesting. So, we all happen to be Ultimate students who're all trapped here?" he asked. Beatrix nodded. Ramsey tapped a finger against his chin in thought. "How strange."

"So, you're an Ultimate too?" asked Beatrix. Ramsey felt a certain pride well up inside him as he smiled.

"That I am. I'm Ramsey King; Ultimate Lounge Performer. You can find me voicing my angelic tongues at a many a fine establishment. I don't sit in one place too often."

Angus grunted in annoyance.

 _Guys like this fucking suck._

 _ **You suck…**_

 _Fuck off._

"Glad to hear you're a singer, but can we finish this up please?"

Ramsey raised an eyebrow. "Finish what?"

Angus answered by walking to the final door, unlocking it, and flinging it open. He could never have prepared for what happened next.

"Sick him, Ryucchi!"

Angus had been having a rough day. Almost having his nose broken, getting kicked in the chest, being shot with a harpoon. It's been a bad one, and Angus had had a lot of bad days.

Having a giant snarling Tosa Inu run out from the shadows and pounce on top of him was easily the scariest thing to happen to him. He could see his entire life flash in front of him in only a few seconds.

The weight of the dog was too much for the already weakened Angus. He was off his feet immediately. Angus was lucky enough to get his arm up in time. One second too late, and the jaws of the mastiff would've sunk right into his throat.

They sank into his arm instead, which felt as good as you could expect. He screamed and kicked at the beast while it treated his poor arm like the chew toy it was.

No longer frozen in place, Beatrix and Ramsey ran to the arms dealers' aid. It took their combined effort, but they managed to pull the hound off the beaten boy.

"Keep your hands off him!" the mysterious voice yelled again.

Out of the cell came a girl. Her hair was black, and very long, reaching past her knees. She was fairly slim, but there was some visible muscle on her arm. There was an extreme intensity behind her gold eyes.

She was wearing a long, thin, satin robe, that was crimson and gold with intricate geometric patterns (Aztec-style), and reached past her knees, the sleeves long and loose. The back of her robe had a large gold design of a dog. Underneath she wore a black tube top, and black knee-high denim shorts, stringy and tattered at the hemlines. She was wearing straw sandals with dark-blue socks. She wore large, gold hoops for earrings and a dark-blue leash coiled by her shorts.

The dog, Ryucchi, was a large brown dog. A normal looking dog, but what made him currently threatening was all the snarling and barking it was doing.

"What are you doing!?" screamed Beatrix, running to the downed Angus. The girl held onto the dog's collar with it still barking.

"You people lock me up for god know how long and you expect me and Ryucchi not put up a fight!? Fuck that! I'll tear all of you down before you get to me!" she shouted. Ramsey put his arms up defensively.

"We didn't put you here! We're all in the same boat!" The girls angry snarl slowly faded into a bewildered expression.

"You aren't?"

"NO, WE AREN'T YOU CRAZY BITCH! CALL OFF YOUR FUCKING MUTT!" Angus screamed from the floor, clutching at his damaged arm. She patted the snarling dog on the head, and it immediately calmed down and sat. The girl rubbed at her neck nervously and chuckled quietly.

"Well, that sucks. My bad, guys. I thought I'd only be getting out of there when the fuckers who locked me up came to get me. I was clearly wrong. Again, sorry."

"WHY THE FUCK DO YOU EVEN HAVE A DOG WITH YOU!? WHAT THE FUCK!? WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!? FUCK YOU!" Angus would not stop screaming.

The girl was back to snarling. "Fuck you, man! I said I was sorry. Excuse me for being on edge! And to answer your question, you're looking at Tatsuo Hojo, the Ultimate Dog Fighter, and this is Ryucchi."

"FUCK YOU TATSUO AND YOUR FUCKING DOG!"

"Angus, please calm down!" Beatrix chided.

"WHY'RE YOU GETTING MAD AT ME!?"

Their argument was stopped at the sound of commotion coming from out in the main hall. Ramsey spoke up.

"I completely understand wanting to tear each other's heads off right now, but I think that may require our attention."

Ramsey started moving toward the exit with Tatsuo and her companion right behind him. Beatrix helped the wounded Angus to his feet and pulled him towards the main hall.

* * *

The group of four (plus dog) walked in on utter pandemonium. Everything looked just how they'd left it. The cat-like monster was still crushed under the fallen Lady Justice statue. What caught them off guard was the stomping coming from upstairs, and before they knew what hit them, the gorilla-like monster jumped over the railing at landed to ground with a thud. In his large grip, trapped in a tight bear hug, were Joaquin, Iroha, Megumi, and a few others that the group didn't recognize.

More thuds came from the back-left corner of the main hall, and Ludivine, Sophia, Shimei, and two other boys were pushed out by the monkey-like monster, who was now sporting a busted eye.

So here the group of fifteen Ultimate students stood. All finally brought together under the worst possible circumstances. The gorilla monster dropped the six in his arms to the floor. Everyone stood up, except for the one dressed like a clown, who just rolled around on the floor. The purple hair boy was coddling what looked like a chicken.

Angus clutched at his arm as tightly as he could. He was afraid to look at it. Looking at it would make it real. He was doing his best to ignore the voices in his head telling him to run. He knew he wouldn't get very far. He felt a weight on his arm, he looked to see Beatrix with her hand gripping him. Now running made him feel even more shitty. He looked to Ramsey who seemed ready to cry. He didn't want to abandon them, but the voices wouldn't quiet down.

 _You need to run._

 _ **And leave the only people you have right now?**_

 _You need to live…_

 _ **You don't deserve to fucking live.**_

The argument didn't get a chance to reach its crescendo as the giant double doors at the front of the main hall were slammed open, and the group was met with the worst thing yet.

The creature was gigantic, bigger than all the other monsters combined. Unlike an ape or cat, this monster resembled that of a winged beast. Large leather wings spread out, and a long crane like beak snipped at the air. A large red number one was printed on its wide chest. It looked over the little Ultimates as if they were ants, which they might as well have been. It looked over them, and it looked over its metal companions.

And it started screeching at an ear-piercing level. It flapped its wings frantically while doing so, causing the students to fall to their knees. Angus felt himself getting dizzy and fell to his knees.

He could see his fellow prisoners falling as well. He watched Joaquin land on his face, and he watched Megumi reach out for the incapacitated Iroha. A thud sounded next to him, and he saw Ramsey and Beatrix out cold.

His eyes felt heavy, and his head felt fit to split. The screeching refused to stop. He kept hearing the thud of bodies around him.

Then it all went dark.

* * *

 **Took me long enough, right? This chapter chewed me up and spit me out, but I'm glad it's finally done. I'm fairly happy with how it turned out.**

 **We've met the whole cast! Who's your favorite character so far? I know they all haven't gotten a lot of time, but once the prologue ends and I finally get this show on the road, I'll make sure everyone gets proper screen time. One more part before we actually start this despair inducing killing game, so please bear with me and my slow updates.**

 **That's all I got. I'm exhausted. Until next time!**


	5. Prologue: Rules and Regulations

"Wake up, Angus. You need to wake up."

The first thing the arms dealer felt was the immense pain in his forehead. He rubbed hopelessly at the aching spot on his head, praying for it to go away. He was slumped over on a wooden bench, a little bit of drool trickling out of his mouth. He sat up, taking in his surroundings. He was in a courtroom, sat in the benches for the public; the gallery.

The room was very different from the rest of the building. It wasn't stark white and minimalist, it looked like a normal courtroom.

What made it different were the monsters scattered around the room. The pterodactyl-like creature with the one on its chest was seated in the jury box, taking up the entire booth.

The monkey-like creature with the two on its chest was standing next to the judge's bench like a bailiff.

The gorilla-like creature with the four on it was standing at the double exit doors, blocking anyone from coming in or out.

Angus' eyes adjusted to the harsh light of the room when he noticed who'd woken him up.

Feliks Dobrow: Ultimate Hacker.

"Are you okay?" He asked quietly.

Angus wanted to speak, to say something, but he was speechless. He'd completely convinced himself that Feliks was killed by what had been hunting him, he wasn't prepared to see him alive again. It took a moment of stuttering before he regained his composure.

"You...you're okay?"

"Are you asking me or telling me?" the Russian joked lightly, trying to keep the mood somewhat jovial despite their dilemma.

Angus felt overwhelmed with an emotion he wasn't used to. He couldn't put it into words for fear of misinterpreting it. His eyes grew misty as he kept staring at his first companion since coming here. He looked at the hatless head of the boy, taking in the long mass of hair that was unruly and messy after a very...active day.

"You're okay." He repeated, surer of the fact the second time.

Feliks sighed and sat back in the bench. Angus looked like complete hell. The bloody button up wasn't new, but the bandaged shoulder and wounded arm were different. His head still felt the dull ache from when he was knocked out, but it was clear Angus had been having a rougher time. Feliks' worst enemy for the last two hours had just been boredom. He'd woken up in the courtroom, and the giant sitting in the jury box was what kept him from leaving.

Angus slumped back over before another voice spoke up.

"Is h-he okay?"

Angus turned to his left and saw a boy with a mop of purple hair sitting a few feet away from him. His eyes were hidden under his bangs, but his body language gave away how scared he was. His muscles were tense under his shirt and he was tapping his foot at a rapid pace. Feliks sat up.

"You two have not met, have you? Angus, this is Manato."

Angus lazily looked between the two boys; he was obviously exhausted.

"Cool." he said softly.

Manato Ondori wanted to say something else to the boy, but he had only been awake a few seconds. Manato couldn't judge, he hadn't been awake for much longer then Angus.

He looked around the rows of benches to see the other people around the courtroom. He could see Chaos two rows in front of him. Well, it was more like he could HEAR him. The bells at the end of his cap were jingling like mad, and he could barely make out the top of the black and white accessory. The jester was moving around, more than likely standing on the bench. Iroha was sitting next to him, occasionally saying something to him. Most likely chastising him for squirming.

There were other kids seated around the room, a lot of which the cock fighter didn't recognize. There was a boy in a three-piece suit in the row ahead of them who looked to still be asleep, and a girl who said her name was Sophia in his row who almost immediately backed off to the very edge of her seat after her introduction.

He was having a hard time registering a lot of the things around him. His mind was elsewhere.

He'd woken up in the courtroom, and Gallus hadn't been with him. His best friend was all he could think about. He wanted nothing more than to run for the doors and find him, but despite emotions running high, he knew that wouldn't end well for him. He looked back over to Angus, who was scanning the room.

The arms dealer went from confusion, to fear upon seeing the monsters, to relief at seeing Feliks okay, to more fear, to the angriest he'd been since this horrible day had started. How fucking dare they? You can't do this to people. He started kicking at the bench in front of him, causing Ramsey King to be woken abruptly. Tatsuo Hojo, who'd been next to him, sneered at the frantic boy.

"Could you not fucking do that!" she whispered as loudly as she could. Angus' only response was to keep kicking the bench. Feliks grabbed his shoulder in an attempt to force him to stop, but the boy was relentless.

"Останови это." he demanded, struggling to keep the boy under control.

He wasn't having it though. His eyes were misty, and every part of his body was screaming for rest, but he just kept kicking the bench in front of him. It was one last futile attempt to create some sort of raucous or rebellion against his captors. His fit throwing caught the attention of the monster in the jury box, which started flapping its wings at a fast rate. It was acting as a warning. Feliks, sensing the appending problem, grabbed both of Angus' arms and pulled them behind his back, but the arms dealer kept kicking.

"Angus, please! You need to stop!" he was no longer being quiet. He was putting all of his attention on restraining Angus. Manato moved closer to the two and grabbed onto Angus as well. Now these two boys were trying to hold down one raging one.

Beatrix Wagner was as far away from the scuffle as possible. She'd woken up on the opposite side of the gallery and two rows ahead. She and Shimei Takenaka had been getting to know each other before Angus' distinct screaming rang out.

"LET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! I'M TIRED OF THIS SHIT!" screaming and banging filled the large room while the wind coming off of flapping wings was becoming hard to ignore.

"Everyone watch out! Angus wants more attention!" the voice of Ludivine Dupont was heard, but Beatrix couldn't see her from where she was sitting.

"FUCK YOU, BITCH! FUCK THAT, AND FUCK YOU! FUCK ALL THIS! HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU PEOPLE SO CALM!? LET GO OF ME GODDAMMIT! I'M WALKING OUT OF HERE! LET THOSE THINGS KILL ME! WHY SHOULD I GIVE A SHIT!?"

That put her on edge. She didn't want her new friend to put his life on the line. She felt a tug on her arm and looked back at Shimei.

The wild girl looked concerned, not scared or anything of that nature. She seemed to be holding herself together well. She didn't seem worried. The girls kept looking at each other before Shimei spoke up, her eyes wide and innocent.

"Do you care about him?" she asked.

Bit of a complicated question, Beatrix thought. Her opinion of the arms dealer was...mixed. In an ideal world, her and Angus became best friends upon first meeting each other. However, that isn't the world they were in. She had panicked and attacked him, and the he attacked her. The turmoil was frustrating, but she didn't need to think too hard about her answer.

"Yes." Shimei's look of concern turned into one of determination. She turned to her right where Megumi Sato was sitting, trying not to get involved. Shimei looked at her, then she looked at Beatrix. Neither could tell what the hiker was planning.

Their train of thought was derailed when they heard movement from the left. Joaquin Hidalgo: The Ultimate Socialite, ran from his bench down the walkway to where the scuffle was happening. Beatrix felt a tug on her hand and saw Shimei yanking her and Megumi from their seats. Just like that they were running toward the screaming Angus.

The pterodactyl in the jury box was screeching, and the gorilla was running to break up the fight. In seconds, what was originally three was now a mangled pile of six kids attempting to calm down one, very, very angry Angus.

"LET GO OF ME! YOU CAN'T FUCKING DO THIS TO PEOPLE!"

"Upupupupupu~ People? That's not how I see it!"

The disembodied voice was high pitch and nasally, not unlike a child. Its tone sent chills down everyone's spines. It was too cheerful for the situation; too happy.

"Everyone heard that, correct? My ears aren't deceiving me, are they?" Junji Otsuka said, standing up.

The gorilla backed away as soon as the voice piped up. It ran back to its spot at the exit. The pterodactyl stopped screeching and flapping, calming down.

Angus pushed everybody off him and stood up. "Show yourself so I can kick the shit out of you!" he yelled.

The voice laughed again. "Is that really what you want?" it asked.

It took the lack of answer as a yes. In the course of a couple seconds, a blur shot out from the judges stand, flipped in the air, and landed perfectly on top of it.

This creature was very different from anything else the group had run into. It had the same palette as the other monsters: white and black on separate sides, one black eye and one red one. However, it was much smaller than the others and resembled that of a teddy bear. The strangest thing about it was the barrister wig atop its head.

Its laughter continued, filling the courtroom. The kids were as stiff as statues as they watched the giggling toy stand up.

It was Negenama who was first to comment.

"Is...is that a stuffed toy?" he asked, confused.

Its laughter stopped, now replaced with an angry growl. Not one of an animal, but one that sounded more at home in the throat of an indignant child.

"I'm NOT a toy!" it yelled as loudly as it could.

Megumi gasped, "It can talk!"

"OF COURSE, I CAN TALK! I'M NOT SOME BEAST! I'm Saibakuma!" He exclaimed.

"Saibakuma?" Shimei asked, eyes filled with wonder.

The glee returned at full force, "Saibakuma! I'm this school's headmaster!"

Ramsey scoffed, "School," he said, "this isn't a school, it's a prison."

"A prison?"

Tatsuo was next to stand up. "Pretty boy's right! This isn't a school! What the fuck are you trying to pull!?"

As if from thin air, the bear pulled out a comically long scroll that unraveled to the floor.

"AHEM!" he coughed, making sure to be as loud as possible. He squinted at the print, "Let's see here...destroying school property, inappropriate use of school equipment, crushing Guardkuma #3 with a statue." The cheery tone slowly turned angry.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU INGRATES! You've only been out of your cells for one day and you've already caused more trouble than you're worth!" he screamed, stomping his feet. Ritsu Enomoto stood with her arms crossed.

"Does it really surprise you?" She asked, "You lock us up, attack us with, what did you call them? "Guardkumas"? And you're surprised that we would fight back?" she was tapping her foot, impatiently waiting for an answer. Joaquin saw the look in her eyes, no fear, just irritation.

"I AM! I AM SURPRISED! YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE SO AGGRESSIVE!" He stomped on the judges stand like an angry child. Ritsu was surprised the stand didn't collapse. She stood strong in face of the tantrum.

"We're owed some kind of explanation, don't you think?"

"Explanation," the bear blinked, "that's what you want? I'll give you that. Upupupupupupupupu~,"

He reached under the stand and pulled out a cartoonishly large gavel. "You're all here because~"

He slammed the gavel.

"YOU'RE ALL GUILTY!"

He slammed it again.

"GUILTY!"

Again.

"GUILTY!"

The wood on wood contact sounded like the crack of thunder. The group jumped at the sudden loud noises. Manato fell back onto the bench, and Shimei all but jumped into Megumi's arms for safety. Only three people stood strong.

Ritsu kept her arms folded.

Ludivine suppressed her laughter.

Chaos clapped his hands and jumped up and down.

The Ultimate Jester stood on top of the bench, balancing on one foot. His clapping was getting faster.

"Guilty, guilty~" he sang along with the angry bear. His words were slightly muffled behind his mask. Angus stood up, misty eyed.

"GUILTY OF WHAT!? What the fuck did we ever do to you?" he shouted.

The bear just laughed, "It's not what you've done to me," he pointed his cartoony gavel at the group, "it's what you've done to other people! You're all guilty! You all know what you've done!" He slammed his gavel down again. "So, this is your recompense! This is your punishment!"

The group was silent, even Chaos had become quiet. Whatever emotion he was feeling was hidden by the permanent smile of his mask. Angus backed away from everyone and stood in the walkway.

"You're nuts. You're fucking crazy," he pointed at the rest of the group, "and all of you are nuts for not leaving. I'm done! Fuck this place and FUCK you you little...bear motherfucker!" He turned around to start walking towards the exit but was stopped by Feliks putting his arms around him, wrapping him in a bear hug. Feliks was quickly joined by Joaquin, then Beatrix. Soon enough the struggling Angus was tackled by his "friends".

"LET GO OF ME! I DON'T BELONG HERE!" he pushed the three heavy bodies off of him while Saibakuma giggled devilishly.

"You don't think you belong here, Angus Hutchinson? I think Travis Reed would disagree with you~,"

The ruckus stopped immediately. Angus' struggling ceased as his heart stopped for a moment. His skin became pale like a ghost.

 _Travis…_

Saibakuma just kept laughing.

"Didn't think I knew?" he asked coyly, "I know everything about all of you! I am your judge, your jury, AND YOUR EXECUTIONER! ALL OF YOU ARE CRIMINALS, AND CRIMINALS DESERVE PUNISHMENT!" he went back to slamming his gavel.

"Where, pray tell, is your evidence?" asked Junji, regaining his composure, "These are substantial accusations you're directing towards us. You'll require proper evidence if you want me to take your conjecture seriously." Ludivine and Ritsu nodded their heads in agreement. Saibakuma pointed his gavel at the "vampire".

"You aren't in the position to be making demands! I'm running the show!" Feliks raised his hand to get the bear's attention.

"Fine. You are running the show. Now, how do we get out of here? Is there any way for us to get out of this?" his question was only met with more chortling.

"Weeeeeeeeellllll~ I suppose there's ONE way for you to get out of here, FELIKS." he said, making sure to put emphasis on the hacker's name. "If one of were you to, say, I don't know…. KILL THE OTHER!"

The room was silent. No one really knew how to react. It was like hearing the news of a great disaster that just happened. What could you do? It already happened. All you could do is think about it.

Beatrix was the first to find her voice.

"Kill...kill each other?"

"KILL EACH OTHER! Stabbing, slicing, bashing! The gorier the better! If one of you kills another and gets away with it, then you can walk out of here without a sitch!"

The group eyed each other suspiciously. Some backed away from each other, while others sat down in an attempt to deal with the shock of what they'd just heard.

Feliks wiped the sweat from his forehead, trying to think of an escape plan. He hated feeling trapped, but he wasn't stupid. He knew the best thing to do was to stay quiet and not make waves. He looked to Manato. Though they were hidden by his bangs, Feliks could almost _feel_ the fear behind his eyes.

Sophia clenched her fists on the bench in front of her, white knuckling on the wood. She was scared before, but now she felt like she was going to pass out. Her knees were weak as she scanned the room, taking in everyone's reactions.

Tatsuo sneered at the bear, trying to look unfazed, but her biting her nails betrayed her tough act. She wasn't scared. Never. Tatsuo Hojo never got scared! Anxious would be a better word for what she was feeling.

 _Motherfuckers… If Ryucchi was here, they wouldn't be pulling this!_

Tatsuo was in the same boat as Manato. She'd woken up in the courtroom with no sign of her closest companion. She felt lost without him. Tatsuo hated feeling lost. She felt lost, but she wasn't scared.

Then there was Angus. The Ultimate Arms Dealer fell to his knees, unable to process what he'd heard. This shitty little bear couldn't possibly know about Travis. Nobody knew about what happened except for himself and…

" _Don't give me that look, kid. You act like I forced you."_

" _I... I wouldn't've done it if you hadn't...if you...if…"_

"" _If you hadn't...if...if...if", Jesus, kid, grow a fucking spine will ya? Look. What's done is done. Don't put this on me! You did yourself, which mean you're completely capable of it. Shit's different now, but...I'm proud of you."_

" _Proud of me?"_

" _Sure, kid. I'd still be locked up if it wasn't for you. Like I said, what's done is done, now we just need to move on."_

"Move on."

Feliks looked down, "Angus?"

 _Travis…_

"Gotta move on, kid. All there is to it…"

"You aren't making sense, Angus."

As Feliks kneeled down, trying to talk Angus through his episode, Ludivine spoke up.

"You've given us a goal to work towards, but are there any other rules we should worry about?"

The bear giggled and reached under the judges stand, pulling out a stacked pile of grey electronic tablets. He dropped them onto the floor.

"These are "Saibapads"! These have a proper map of the building, and all the rules you'll need to know to live a prosperous day to day life here at Saibakuma's Correctional Institute for the Gifted Troublemaker!"

The bear turned away from the group but stopped before leaving.

"OH! I almost forgot! I arranged for some renovations while we were having our little inauguration! I hope you find them suitable! Now go get some sleep! It's already 8:00! Until next time, dearest pests! AHAHAHAHAHHA!"

Giggling like a mad man, Saibakuma leapt behind the judges stand and disappeared, leaving sixteen silent Ultimates and three imposing "Guardkuma's".

* * *

The exit from the courtroom was a quiet one. Guardkuma #4, the gorilla-like one, had ushered them out in single file.

Saibakuma wasn't joking when he had said that some things were being fixed up. The Lady Justice statue and the second story railing had been fixed as if nothing had happened.

Guardkuma #3, the one resembling a cat, for better or worse, had also been restored back to full health.

It greeted them when they walked out of the courtroom. Turns out that one of the two pairs of locked double doors were where the courtroom had been hidden. It nearly scared the group out of their wits when it leaped at them, growling like mad. Guardkuma #4 kept it from attacking, however.

After that, the two beastly robots walked back into the courtroom and locked the doors, leaving the Ultimates to their own devices. Some of them went back to their rooms, while others went to the cafeteria to get something to eat before going to sleep.

Megumi, however, insisted that Angus come with her to the nurse's office to properly clean and patch his injuries.

The office looked exactly how you'd expect a school nurse's office to look like. A cabinet filled with bandages and medicine hung from the wall. A bed that was one set of wheels away from becoming a hospital gurney sat in the corner with a plastic curtain wrapped around it. The walls and tiles were as bland and colorless as everything else in the building.

Angus sat on a small stool with Megumi sitting next to him. She'd already disinfected his wound and was now in the process of stitching it up. The only issues were Angus' level of...cooperativeness.

"OW! FUCK!" he pulled away from the surgeon, suture sticking from his bite wound, still unfinished.

"Angus, please." an exasperated Megumi said, "you have to sit still. It'll hurt more if you struggle."

"She's right, amor." Joaquin piped up. He'd insisted on coming along, much to Angus' chagrin. Tatsuo had also come along to make sure the damage Ryucchi had done wasn't permanent. She was seated on the floor, her dogs head in her lap (him and Gallus were waiting right outside the courtroom for their owners).

Angus gave Megumi his arm to let her finish. "Let us not forget how I got in this situation in the first place."

"Fuck you, dude! I said sorry!"

"Sorry doesn't fix my arm, shithead!"

"Will the two of you relax!" Megumi yelled, silencing the two bickering children. She finished her job and put away her tools. Tatsuo huffed.

"I meant it when I said I was sorry."

"Tell you what, keep your flea-ridden mutt as far away from me as humanly possible and we'll call it even."

"Angus," Joaquin said in a chastising manner.

"No," Tatsuo cut him off, "no, that's fine. We'll keep away from each other. That's fair."

Without another word, Tatuso got to her feet and left the office, Ryucchi following behind her. Joaquin sighed in defeat.

"You could've been a little less harsh."

"Oh, fuck that. Her dog attacked me! I won't be treated like the bad guy for being RIGHTFULLY angry."

"You're allowed to be angry, but you shouldn't be making enemies. Arguing isn't going to help us get out of here."

The injured boy looked down at his bloody boots, not wanting to look Joaquin in the eye. He hated how he was feeling, but he was never much of a liar.

"We aren't getting out of here." he said quietly.

"Pardon?" Megumi asked. She was in the middle of pulling out a bottle of hydrogen peroxide when she heard Angus' words.

"You can't possibly mean that." Joaquin said, almost sounding scandalized.

"Of course, I'm serious," Angus' voice was rising. Megumi put her hand on his not damaged shoulder. "Have you actually taken a moment to look at the situation we're in? It's pretty fucked, man."

Joaquin shook his head. "I'm not going to pretend our predicament is an ideal one, but we DEFINITELY won't be getting out of here if you keep up with that attitude."

"Can you remove your shirt, Angus?" Megumi interrupted, "I can't clean the wound with the fabric in the way."

Angus grumbled something under his breath but started to unbutton his black button up without a fight.

His skin was pale and his shoulder down to his abdomen was stained with dry blood and sweat. He was particularly muscular, but he was toned in areas that showed off the fact he was in good shape.

Joaquin turned away, a light shade of pink adorning his cheeks. He was attempting to look anywhere other than the two in front of him. Megumi twisted the cap off the hydrogen peroxide.

"This isn't going to be pleasant; I hope you know."

"Don't preach to me, just do it."

Without another word, Megumi poured a healthy amount of the peroxide onto the open shoulder wound. The silent room was quickly filled with the sounds of muffled anguish and Angus' chair scratching against the floor tiles. The bloody wound fizzled and bubbled as the liquid made contact. As fast as she could she wrapped the injury with new bandages.

"There!" she boasted, putting away her equipment. "All finished!"

Angus pulled his shirt back on and buttons it, much to Joaquin's thankfulness. "Yeah, thanks. I feel like a new man." he got to his feet and started staggering toward the exit. He was stopped by Joaquin.

"Where are you running off to?"

"My room. I'm tired."

"That makes sense. You've," he chuckled, "had a long day."

"You laughing at me?"

"Not AT you, Angus."

The arms dealer mumbled something under his breath before walking out the door. Joaquin turned back to the surgeon.

"Thank you, querido. For everything." he said, his voice filled with gratitude.

She smiled, "It's no worries. I'm happy to help! Make sure he gets to bed safely, okay?"

"I'll be sure of that."

With that, he followed after Angus, leaving Megumi alone in the nurse's office to take in everything that had transpired over the day.

* * *

"This is unnecessary."

"I disagree."

"I hate this."

"I know."

"I hate you."

"I know."

That perfectly sums up the interaction between the two boys as Joaquin lead the tired Angus back to his room; hand in hand. Joaquin was afraid that the poor arms dealer would pass out without some kind of support. They passed Guardkuma #2, the monkey-like one, wandering around the main hall as if it were on watch, and Guardkuma #1, the pterodactyl-like one, perching on the upper railing like a vulture. They stared the two down but made no move to hinder their progress. They eventually got to Angus' door.

"Are you going to be alright?"

The boy shot him the slyest smirk he could muster, "Oh, I'll be fine. I'm too weak to go to the kitchen to get a knife and my shoe laces aren't long enough to hang myself. I can't do much."

Joaquin wasn't amused, staring down Angus with a mixture of worry and irritation.

"Joke, Joaquin. Just a joke. I'm fine."

The socialite just sighed and turned to walk back down the hallway.

"Do yourself a favor, Angus, and keep those types of jokes in your head, okay? I don't think your acerbic point of view is going to be appreciated right now."

Angus was now alone as he watched Joaquin leave. A beat of silence passed before he stuck up his middle finger at the empty hallway as an act of defiance against nobody in particular. He then proceeded to swing open his door and shut it behind him.

The room was different then the last time he was in it. It looked larger, there was a dresser pushed against the wall, and an extra door that lead to a bathroom. The toilet was no longer next to the bed, so that was plus.

 _Is this what the bear meant by renovations? They even fixed my bed._

He was actually on board with the new room until he noticed one extra new addition.

A wooden picture frame was bolted into the wall next to his bed.

He walked up to it to get a better look at it. It was a news article for the "Vannigan Examiner". The picture on the article depicted a middle-aged man in a prison jumper being escorted out of a crowded courtroom.

" _TRAGEDY FOR THE HUTCHINSON CASE_

 _Star witness against Carl Hutchinson's testimony: Travis Reed, was found dead in his downtown Vannigan apartment at noon yesterday. The coroner's current ruling is that of suicide, but the police are not ruling out foul play due Reed's importance to Hutchinson's case. When-"_

Angus couldn't keep reading. He wanted to rip the frame from the wall, to break the glass and shred the article into pieces, but he had no energy left. He laid back on his bed, staring up at the plain white ceiling. The sound around him was the electric buzz from the overhead lights. All he could do was slowly let sleep overcome him.

 _We...are going to die here._

* * *

 **I did it! I actually finished the prologue! I never thought I'd get this far! Feels good. The first chapter will probably take a while longer to come out then the prologue, but I'm happy with where I'm at now. Make sure to leave reviews with critiques. I always want to try and get better.**

 **That's all I've got for now. Until Chapter 1, I guess! Thank you so much for reading!**


	6. Chapter 1-1

**Chapter 1**

 **A World of Lawless Ne'er-do-wells**

* * *

Angus was awoken to the sound of a school bell ringing out over an intercom. He scrambled off the bed and onto the floor, covering his head in fear at the abrupt noise.

" **Rise and shine, you filthy criminals! It's 9 AM! Time to face a brand-new day!"**

"GET FUCKED!"

" **YOU FIRST, LOSER!"**

The boy sighed in defeat. He hadn't gotten much sleep, anyway. His thoughts had been consumed by Saibakuma's words. Tossing and turning for an entire night before being consumed by uneasy exhaustion wasn't his cup of tea.

He looked back up at the wall at the news article. He couldn't even muster up anger at it; it was too early for that.

He got up and walked to the dresser that had been added to his room. His clothes were a mess. Bloody, dirty and wrinkled, they were in desperate need of a change.

The clothes in the dresser were very similar to what he was currently wearing, just different color shirts.

He slipped on a white t-shirt with a grey button up over top of it and black slacks with black boots. He stepped into the bathroom and stood in front of the sink.

He looked just as bad as his clothes did. His nose and upper lip had flecks of dried blood and his eyes were slightly puffy from all the crying he'd been doing, plus the heavy bags underneath them.

 _You look like shit, man._

 _ **You always look like shit.**_

He rested his head against the mirror. Angus Hutchinson had had low points before, but this was different. This wasn't just some rough spot that'd he need back up from some of his contacts to dig himself out of. He was on his own on this one.

He ran his hands through his hair, getting his fingers caught in the mangled knots.

 _They couldn't give me a hairbrush? Fucking figures…_

A knock on his door through off his chain of thought. He walked from the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

He opened the door, ready to chew out whoever it was who thought it'd be a good idea to bug him, but stopped himself when he saw Feliks standing in front of him.

"Good morning. I thought I'd make sure you were awake."

Angus focused in on the hat sitting on the boy's head. He had his hat back. Iroha must have returned it to him, that or the bear gave him back ups.

"Well, I'm awake, so what do you want?"

Feliks sighed, having Angus irritated this early in the morning couldn't be a positive omen for the day.

"We're all having breakfast in the cafeteria, and I thought I'd extend...and olive branch for you to join us."

 _Breakfast actually sounds pretty good right now…_

"Well, as much as I appreciate the "olive branch", I really have no interest in eating at a table with potential murders."

 _Just got eat breakfast, you stubborn prick…_

"You honestly believe anyone is...taking that seriously?"

"We don't know each other, man. You don't know what people are planning."

"I just thought I'd make the offer. You do not have to do anything you don't want to do."

 _You're really hungry…_

"Thanks for telling me that info that I already knew." he said sarcastically, preparing to shut his door. He would've too if it weren't for the loud rumble his stomach decided to let out at that moment. A giggle was heard. Ludivine walked past the two.

"Even your own body knows you're a liar, Angus." she laughed, strutting out into the hallway. Angus grit his teeth.

"What the fuck is she doing here?"

"She is our...sosed."

"English…"

"How do you say it? Neighbor?"

Fucking perfect, exactly what he needed. The arguably largest thorn in his side, sans the bear, sleeping two rooms over.

"You don't know shit about me, lady!" he yelled out to her, pushing past Feliks. Ludivine turned around and smiled slyly at the boy.

"I know that you're too prideful to just come to breakfast. You're quickly building a reputation as a mean spirited brute and now, you're trying to keep it. Why you're doing that I'm still trying to figure out but give me a day or so and I'm sure I'll come up with a proper thesis." She walked out into the main hall before the indignant Angus could yell at her again. Feliks coughed to try and break the tension between the two boys and Ludivine.

"So…," he started, "breakfast?"

"Sure. Why the fuck not?" Angus shut his door and followed Angus out into the main hall. The only people who were out in the hall were Tatsuo and Ryucchi. She was tossing tiny chunks of meat to the mastiff, who was happily munching down on the snacks.

Her and Angus shared a sharp look before they walked into the cafeteria. Iroha and Megumi were sitting together, and Junji was walking out of the kitchen with a tray in his hand. Beatrix, Ramsey and Joaquin were all sitting together, and when the former locked eyes with Angus she waved him over. The two boys shared a brief look before walking to the busy table.

"Glad to see you're both awake. Did you sleep okay?" Ramsey asked, taking a bite from his granola bar. Angus and Feliks sat across from the three.

"Oh, I slept great." Angus said, his sarcasm never faltering.

"That's great! I could barely sleep a wink…" Beatrix sipped from her teacup, a sullen look in her eyes.

"Uh… Beatrix, darling, I don't think he was being serious." Joaquin spoke up, giving Angus an irritated look for tricking the girl. He put his hand up in defense. They continued talking until Junji walked up and sat next to Angus.

"Arms dealer," he said with an authoritarian tone, "I must ask you about your...temper."

Angus grinned, "And what would that be, hm? You wanna know how to be more like me?" Iroha groaned from the other end of the table. Junji chuckled.

"Not exactly. I simply find anger a fascinating emotion, but I've only seen such passion one other place in my long life. So, I must ask, from what domain do you hail from?"

Angus blinked, "Excuse me?"

"If I may," Ramsey interrupted, "I think he's asking where you're from."

"Precisely," Junji smiled, "I've only seen such vitriol and fury from a Caitiff who haunted The Barrens of a rural Japanese farming village. So, I ask again, from where exactly do you hail from?

"...Nevada."

"You're American?" Joaquin asked, a grin creeping onto his face. "Well, I'm happy that I'm not the only one."

"Seconded," Ramsey said, finishing his bar. "If I'm being completely honest, when I got accepted to Hope's Peak, I was terrified that I was going to be the only exchange student in my class."

With Joaquin and Ramsey taking a moment to talk between themselves (and Feliks and Beatrix talking), Angus left the table and headed into the kitchen looking for something to eat. His stomach had been quietly rumbling during Junji's strange ramblings. Seriously, what was that guy's damage? Did he seriously think he was a vampire? Weird. Angus made a mental note to try and steer clear of him for as long as he could.

He looked over the pre-prepared table of breakfast food ranging from oatmeal to omelets. Who'd put these out? Saibakuma probably wouldn't, and the Guardkumas didn't seems like chefs, so who'd prepare a banquet like this? He kept looking over the table before he saw a prepared plate at the end of it. There was a bell pepper omelet with a side of hash browns sitting there, steam still coming off of the fresh meal.

Angus picked up the plate, the smell causing memory after memory to fill his head.

"My...my favorite," he whispered.

"Do you always talk to yourself?"

Angus jumped, dropping the plate back onto the table with a loud _clank_ of porcelain on metal. He whipped around, coming face to face with Ritsu Enomoto, who'd just walked into the kitchen. He caught his breath.

"Do you always sneak up on people?"

She chuckled and walked forward with her hand outstretched. "I don't think we've been properly introduced. Ritsu Enomoto: Ultimate Prosecutor." Angus, though hesitantly, accepted."

"Angus Hutchinson: Ultimate Arms Dealer. Nice to...uh...meet you, I guess?" Angus wasn't used to being amicable or chatty. Small talk wasn't his line of business. It also wasn't helping that Ritsu's friendly, yet fierce gaze was burning a hole through to his head.

"What are your thoughts on our situation, Angus?" She asked, throwing Angus for a loop. He wasn't sure what kind of answer to give. He could be his usual sardonic self and push the girl away, or he could try and be little more honest with her and himself and say how he really felt.

"I think we're pretty fucked." he said grimly.

"Why?" her voice didn't seem concerned or upset in any way. It was filled with raw curiosity for the boy's point of view.

"Well, at first I was confident that this was all some kind of sick joke. Lock us up, scare us, the whole nine yards. But then I realized that we were locked up for two days before we got out of those cells, Feliks got pelted with an actual glass vase, I got shot with an ACTUAL HARPOON and attacked by a shitty fucking dog. Any normal prank would've given up after the first real injury. This is...real."

Ritsu started pacing back and forth deep in thought. Angus watched the prosecutor with a confused expression. Was everyone here weird? He couldn't be the only normal one, could he? Another minute of silence passed between the two until Ritsu gave him a serine smile.

"That is an interesting point of view, Mr. Hutchinson. Perhaps we should discuss this more after-"

"Angus."

"Hm?"

He looked at her, clenching his fists slightly, trying not to overreact. "Don't call me that. My name's Angus, and you should call me that."

Ritsu nodded, "Of course, Angus. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Just...just don't let it happen again."

 _SLAM_

The doors flew open, banging against the walls and scaring everyone in the room.

Angus and Ritsu ran out into the cafeteria to see what the fuss was. Tatsuo was now in the cafeteria, a barking Ryucchi by her side. Manato (Gallus in his arms) and Sophia had joined the group, both of them looked terrified by the sudden noise.

"And I'm almost there~"

"I'm almost there~"

The two sing song voices rang out through the room as Shimei and Chaos blew in like a tornado. The Hiker was holding the Jester in her arms and lifting him over her head and spinning him as he sang.

"People gonna come here from everywhere~"

"And I'm almost there~"

Chaos lept from her grasp and onto the table where everyone had been sitting. He pulled her up with him.

"I'm almost there~" they sang together.

"Okay, no more of this!" Angus shouted, stomping toward the mess in front of him. He thought he felt Ritsu's hand on his shoulder for a moment but shook it off. As the two continued to table dance Angus kicked the side of it, sending them both flying to the floor and promptly ending the song and dance number.

"We're not doing that again. That was horrible." Angus moaned, sitting back down. Beatrix huffed and crossed her arms. "That was rude, Angus. They we're just having fun."

"If that's what fun looks like to you fucking people then I am officially outlawing fun." he sneered down at the shorter girl, glaring daggers at her.

The two smaller Ultimates lept to their feet, their energy not dwindling in the slightest.

"Angus hates fun! Angus hates fun~" the two chanted, leaving the arms dealer very red in the face.

"WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP! WHOSE IDEA WAS THIS ANYWAYS?" He screamed.

"It was mine, actually," the doors creaked open, revealing the smirking Ludivine. "I just thought the two could use a pick me up, so I gave them the idea of an impromptu song and dance number."

If Angus wasn't mad before, then there was no question about that now. Who did this girl think she was? She shoots him with a harpoon and now has the gall to talk down to him like he was less than her? Fuck that. Time to take a needless stand.

"Do you have a problem with me?" he asked, stepping to her. Ludivine refused to let up on her grin. The reactions were mixed. Some people (Beatrix and Iroha) took a step forward to break up any fight that was about to happen, while others (Sophia and Manato) slinked back further into their seats, wanting to avoid a fight.

"Why would I have a problem, Angus?" she asked in an innocent voice, "Should I have a problem with you? Have you done anything to warrant me having any kind of issue with you?"

Angus opened his mouth to answer but found himself falling quiet. He thought back to yesterday and his first interaction with Beatrix. He looked around the room at his peers. One half looked displeased while the others couldn't look him in the eye. He looked back at Ludivine; she was as still as a statue, her smile never faltering. She was completely confident in her words and her actions.

 _She turned them against you. They hate you…_

 _ **You deserve it.**_

"Angus?" a voice asked. It sounded feminine. Beatrix maybe? Angus couldn't tell. He felt his feet carrying him away from the confrontation and out the doors. He blinked, coming back to reality. He was standing in the main hall. Only two people were there with him. Well, one wasn't really a person. Guardkuma #4 was standing in front of the courtroom doors, guarding.

And the other was Negenama.

The private tutor was sitting alone at one of the chess tables, fiddling with the pieces. He was staring at the board with a contemplative look on his face. He definitely wasn't thinking about chess. Angus sighed, walked over and sat across from him. Negenama looked up, noticed Angus, and quietly moved his surgical mask closer to his nose.

"Can I help you?" he asked snidely. The other boy didn't acknowledge it.

"Shouldn't you be in there eating breakfast?"

Negenama scoffed, "Please. I wouldn't eat with those plebeians if it were the last meal on Earth. I find their stench...repugnant."

"Stench? Seriously?"

"It doesn't surprise me that you wouldn't know what I'm talking about considering your status."

"Try me." Negenama raised an eyebrow at the response.

"People of a certain social and financial status have an odor that comes with them. I'm the only one who can smell it. You for example…" he trailed off, tugging at his mask.

A day ago, Angus would've thrown the chess table and strangled the arrogance out of the boy in front of him. Now though? He couldn't even muster up a threat or an angry look. He thought back to Ludivine and the looks everyone in the cafeteria were giving him. Best not to fan the flames.

"Whatever," Angus said, his voice scornful, "you're not gonna have many allies with an attitude like that."

Negenama chucked. "Not only do I not want any of you as allies, I don't need any of you."

"So what? You already planning a murder?"

"Who's to say I'm not?"

Angus paused, unsure of how to respond. He looked into Negenama's eyes, trying to find some sign of a bluff. Angus would never pretend that he was an amazing judge of character, and he hated that fact. A broken bullshit detector made him paranoid of everyone. He wasn't overly trusting; he just had a hard time telling when someone was lying.

"Have you seen the school rules?"

"Rules?" Angus asked.

The tutor nodded his head, "Rules. There on your Saibapad?"

A beat of silence passed before Negenama sighed.

"Here." he pulled his pad from his satchel and clicked it on. His name flashed onto the screen before it was replaced by a list of rules.

 **Rule #1: Prisoners may reside only within the compound. Leaving the compound is an unacceptable use of time.**

 **Rule #2: Nighttime is from 10 pm to 9 am. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution.**

 **Rule #3: Sleeping anywhere other than the cells will be marked as a discrepancy and punished accordingly.**

 **Rule #4: Violence against headmaster Saibakuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance cameras.**

 **Rule #5: Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered.**

 **Rule #6: Judge Saibakuma has the power to take away any privileges as he sees fit. Remember, you are criminals, not hotel guests.**

 **Rule #7: New rules are to be added when deemed necessary.**

Angus scanned the rules, taking in the info. Negenama put his Saibapad away and stood up.

"This has been interesting, Mr. Hutchings, but I think I'll be taking my leave." he said, "Perhaps I'll get some early morning reading done."

"It's Hutchinson, and I don't do that "Mister" shit."

Negenama shrugged and walked off to the staircase, heading toward the library. Angus slumped into his seat and shut his eyes.

 _At least I'm not the only one keen on avoiding everyone._

 _ **He's similar to you, don't you think?**_

 _Not really. That dude's a dick._

 _ **...Your complete lack of self-awareness makes me want to die.**_

 _You're a voice. You can't die._

"We need to talk."

Angus opened his eyes to see Iroha sitting across from him, a concerned looking Megumi by her side. Angus chuckled. "Am I about to get lectured?" he asked, not taking Iroha's stern glare very seriously. Megumi was quickly shaking her head, as if to say, "don't provoke her".

"I'm not Ludivine," Iroha started, "I'm not looking to poke fun at your misfortunes, and I'm not looking to make you angry. But someone needs to talk to you about how you're acting."

"How I'm acting? Are you my mom or some shit? How I'm acting isn't any of your business." Angus sneered, sitting up.

Iroha folded her arms, "You may think that your actions don't have consequences, but when you're in a life or death situation, you may need to rely on people."

Angus turned to Megumi for support but found nothing more than an apologetic look.

"Who the hell are YOU to lecture me? You don't know me." He stood up from his seat, turning away from the girls. Iroha spoke up from behind him.

"I know that I'm trying to look out for the good of EVERYONE here, and that includes you. I'm not looking for conflict; quite the opposite."

"I think you should listen to her, Angus." Megumi added. The arms dealer wasn't impressed.

"I don't have to listen to shit. I'm my own person, and you have ZERO sway over me." Angus started walking toward the stairs before the same calm voice started talking again.

"I'll do anything to help protect people, Angus. I don't want you to stand in the way of that. A little cooperation would go a long way here." Iroha sounded sincere, but Angus had phased her out about a minute ago.

He huffed, stuck his hands in his pockets, and made his way up the spiraling stairs, making sure not to look in the direction of the two girls on the way up. When he made it to the top he contemplated stopping in the library, but a vision of Negenama's very punchable face stopped him and lead him in the direction of the recreation room.

The room had been completely fixed up. You'd never know that there'd been a scuffle in there earlier. The pool table and balls were placed neatly in place, the locker door was no longer broken, and the magazine rack and knick knacks were in pristine condition.

Angus approached the already racked billiards table. He looked down at the cue ball and saw what looked like red markings on it. He picked it up and read the little message scribbled across it.

" _The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. -Travis"_

The message was written in red sharpie and looked jumbled together and hard to read on the tiny cue ball, but Angus would never miss that name.

 _Travis…_

Angus juggled the ball, throwing it back and forth. He took in a deep breath before turning toward the door. With a deep sigh and anger in his heart, he wound back and hocked the pool ball through the tiny window in the door, shattering the glass. A second after the clatter quieted down, the speakers shrieked to life.

" **DON'T DAMAGE FACILITY PROPERTY!"**

"FUCK YOU!"

" **I'LL EAT YOU!"**

Angus turned away from the mess he had made. Antagonizing the person that was keeping him here probably wasn't the best idea. He walked over to the magazine rack, looking for nothing in specific. He was never one for reading, but he needed something to take his mind off his situation.

The majority of the magazines looked outdated. Gigantic tabloids about celebrity couples that were old news by now.

 _Lock us up and not even give us updated magazines? Now they've gone too far._

There was, however, one magazine that caught his eye. The cover was taken up by a large, sterile looking building, harbored away from society by high gates and watch towers, and there were no windows to be seen. His eyes were drawn to the bold white words at the top of the picture.

 **REFORM SCHOOL OR PRISON?: Hope's Peak Academy's Latest Investment**

The mention of Hope's Peak caught Angus off guard. The cover said the article was discussed further on page thirty-four, but when flipped to the spot, a handful of pages had been ripped from the binding.

"Seriously?" Angus groaned, tossing the magazine back onto the rack. Absolutely perfect. An actual lead possibly presents itself, and it's really just there to mock them. It made sense, really. Saibakuma seemed like just enough of a little shit to pull a small thing like that.

Angus kicked the wooden rack, and when he did, at that same moment, a pair of arms snaked around his waist and latched onto him.

The scream he let out was a little less than manly.

He jumped free of the mystery person's grasp, flying back against the wall in an attempt to flee. He would've attempted to tunnel through the wall if he hadn't seen who snuck up on him.

Beatrix Wagner stood awkwardly, waiting for Angus to calm down.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU," he shouted, "WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU SNEAK UP ON ME LIKE THAT?"

Beatrix crossed her arms, "I didn't sneak up on you. I walked in like normal. You did not notice. That's not sneaking."

Angus grit his teeth, swallowing his irritation. "What are you doing up here anyway?"

Beatrix smiled, no longer looking awkward. "Trying to find you. The crash I heard lead me to you." When she took a step forward, Angus stepped back. He was standing against the wall as Beatrix encroached on his personal space.

"You ran out of the cafeteria very quickly. I was worried, freund." She placed her hand gently on his injured shoulder. "Are you hurting here?" she inquired innocently. Angus jutted away from her touch, blushing like mad. Not taking the hint, Beatrix moved her hand from his shoulder to his face, inspecting his bruised nose.

Angus wasn't used to physical contact, so having someone be this close had him emotionally reeling. His face was redder than it'd ever been in his entire life. He moved his head away from her hand and pressed his body into the wall behind him.

Beatrix, finally taking the hint, backed off. She looked into his eyes and found some understanding to Angus' distress.

"This is about what Ludivine said." By the tone of her voice she wasn't asking a question. She'd cut through to the meat of the issue and Angus had nowhere to hide.

The arms dealer hung his head in embarrassment. She was right. Ludivine had burrowed under his skin and become an itch he couldn't scratch. She knew how to strike deep, that's for sure. She'd only known him for a day, but it felt she already had him pegged. She knew his insecurities, and more importantly, she knew what made him angry.

 _Am I really that easy to read?_

Beatrix pouted, "You cannot let her get to you! You are good!" Angus wanted to laugh at her simple grasp at the English language but couldn't bring himself to do so.

"She's right though," he groaned, "and I'm not good. I'm like...the fucking EXACT opposite of good. All I've done since getting out of that cell is raise hell and fuck shit up, and not in a good way." He moved past the girl and leaned over the pool table.

"I tried to fight Feliks, abandoned him and Joaquin, and I…," he trailed off, unable to look at the curious girl. "I almost seriously hurt you."

Beatrix giggled in response. "You worry too much. You didn't hurt me, you just-"

She was cut off by the sound of Angus slamming his fist into the pool table. The balls jumped off the table and landed a second later, and small indent was made in the green felt where his hand landed.

"Don't," he said, anger obvious in his voice, "don't...patronize me like I'm some kid. Don't pretend like what I did didn't happen. I fucked up, and I deserve to be called out on it. I'm...I'm a piece of shit. I deserve-"

It was Beatrix's turn to interrupt. She launched herself forward, wrapping her arms around Angus' waist and burying her face into his chest.

Angus could almost feel steam pouring from his ears. "W-what the fuck you doing!?" he stuttered, trying to pry the girl from his body. She wouldn't budge.

"I'm helping. This is what mother does for me whenever I'm upset." She tightened her grip. Angus kept pushing at Beatrix, but his attempts slowed down after a minute as he resigned himself to his fate. Eventually, Beatrix let go, a big smile on her face.

"There is work to be done for you, but you aren't a bad person. If you were a truly bad person, you wouldn't want to improve yourself and become better."

Angus stopped, stared the girl down, looking for any sort of deception behind the girl's eyes.

And he started chucking.

Beatrix cocked her head to the side in confusion as Angus chortled to himself.

"I'm surprised you're able to be so trusting given the situation." he said, calming down.

"Why would I not be trusting? You've done nothing to deceive me." the honesty in her voice spoke volumes for Angus. The girl walked past him and toward the exit, a slight skip in her step.

"Do not isolate yourself. We have to stay as one, Angus."

With that, she was gone. Leaving a stunned Angus in her wake. Her words played on repeat in his head.

 _She's right you know._

 _ **She doesn't know shit…**_

 _Isolating yourself will make you a target._

 _ **Who gives a shit?**_

 _You don't want to die…_

 _ **You DESERVE to die…**_

Angus shook his head, freeing himself from the worsening train of thought. Instead, he thought about what Joaquin said to him in the nurse's office.

" _You're allowed to be angry, but you shouldn't be making enemies. Arguing isn't going to help us out of here."_

He thought about what Iroha said to him in the main hall.

" _I'll do anything to help protect people, Angus. I don't want you to stand in the way of that. A little cooperation would go a long way here."_

He thought about the judgmental looks he got in the cafeteria. He thought about Ludivine and the snide look she gave him after he caused a scene. He thought about how Feliks came to bring him to breakfast despite the fact he'd attacked him. He thought about Joaquin and Beatrix, who were dead set on sticking by his side despite how rude he'd been to the both of them.

He thought about that stupid fucking bear and it's disgusting plan to make them kill each other, and that thought put the final nail in the coffin for him. Being unhelpful was getting him nowhere, and it wasn't doing any good for anybody else either. Angus was never much of a people person, but sometimes compromises had to be made for the sake of prosperity.

Angus Hutchinson was going to be friendly, even if it killed him.

This wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

 **I actually finished it! I didn't think I had it in me, but I guess I did. Who would've guessed? Certainly not me. Angus is gonna try and play nice guy for a little bit. So, that'll be fun to watch, probably. There will definitely be some Free Time Events next chapter, so make sure you vote on the poll I put on my profile if you haven't already. Maybe even a motive if I decide to do it early? We'll see. I have no clue what I'm doing, but it's holding together so far.**

 **Until next time!**


	7. Chapter 1-2

_Thunk_

 _Thunk_

 _THUNK_

Angus bounced the blue rubber ball against the wall of his room, getting more and more aggressive with each throw. He was lucky that the warehouse had everything a person could need. He didn't hang around the recreation room for much longer after Beatrix left. He hadn't stopped thinking about what she said though.

 _Be nice? Can I do that?_

 _ **Can you scrounge up just a little bit of basic human decency?**_

 _It isn't that easy._

 _ **Sure it is. Just don't be an asshole.**_

 _THUNK_

Angus spiked the ball into the floor, causing it to smack against the ceiling. He despised feeling helpless, but what else was there to feel in a situation like this? The ball bounced and landed softly on his bed. His eyes were drawn back to the newspaper article bolted onto his wall.

Ignoring it wasn't working, and destroying it probably wouldn't go over well with Saibakuma. It was a sick reminder as to why he was here. He was a criminal. They were ALL criminals apparently. He hated being paranoid, but what was he to do? When you're trapped with a bunch of strangers who're just as bad as you; maybe worse, it's hard to put your trust in someone. Angus had always had trust issues. There weren't many people in his life he could look to for guidance. All he'd ever had was his dad and Travis.

 _Travis..._

He sat down on the bed, squeezing the ball in his hand. He stared down at the cold white tiles, lost in thought. He laid down, staring up at the ceiling lights. He closed his eyes and lost himself to old memories.

* * *

O'Bannon's Firing Range.

It wasn't too big, but when your father is friends with the owners it's where you always go. Jed and Kimberly O'Bannon always had marital issues, but the one thing they always agreed upon was their love of firearms. Not to mention that in small places like Henderson, Nevada there wasn't much to do anyway. Especially when Las Vegas was only a few miles away.

 _BANG_

"Great shot, kid. Next time will you at least PRETEND you're aiming for the target?"

Carl Hutchinson batted his eight year old on the back of his head, causing the young boy to stumble.

"Dad," Angus moaned, "can't we take a break? My hands hurt."

The man sighed, "It isn't your hands that hurt, it's your wrists. Also, pain is a mental thing. You'll get over it once you're more accustomed to handling a piece. Keep firing. Let me know when you need more ammo."

Carl turned away and moved to the blue duffel he had sat on the bench. Unzipping it, he pulled out his own pistol and moved next to his son, pushing him aside. Luckily the earphones Angus was wearing saved him from any kind of hearing damage as his dad fired off two shots, hitting the human shaped target twice in the chest.

"See that," he said, pocketing his gun, "you're thinking too hard, kid. Relax. It'll all be muscle memory soon enough."

He ruffled the boy's hair and walked back to the bench where his duffel was. The act didn't feel like one of empathy, but more one of patronizing. Carl never acted sincere when it came to his son. It was always a talking down to or a lecture. Why couldn't he be treated like treated like an adult? He was already eight! His train of thought was interrupted by a loud voice.

"Carl. Fucking. Hutchinson! As I live and breathe!"

Angus turned around to see a familiar face. The man, despite not being too tall, was _large._ Unhealthily so. The out of shape man sometimes had a hard time fitting through doorways, and his smoker's lung made it sound like he was gargling gravel. You'd think with a voice like that you'd learn to keep quiet, but surprisingly, no one ever mentioned it. No one ever talked about how he punctuated almost every sentence with a cough. That's how he'd always been. Carl stood up and shook the shorter man's hand.

"Jed. How've you been?" Jed O'Bannon managed to laugh and cough at the same time. He smelled like cigarettes and pennies.

"As good as a guy like me could be, Carl. Kimmy didn't tell me you came in. I would've come back earlier!" Another cough. Carl looked confused.

"Kimmy didn't see me in. It was that new girl you hired." The fat man's eyes widened.

"Lacey?" his shock turned to anger. "I swear man, that bitch can't do a single thing right. Can't watch the desk, can't cook for shit," Jed grumbled, counting off his wife's misdemeanors on his hand. Carl put his hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner.

"Hey, relax, alright? I get it, okay? Women suck. You're giving your heart too much of a work out."

Angus sighed. He knew that tone. It was the tone his dad used with everybody. He didn't care about Mr. O'Bannon's problems, he just cared about what Mr. O'Bannon could do for him. He had a history of "getting the most use out of people". That was the excuse he'd use when one of his "friends" stopped coming around the house. When someone stopped being useful he'd move on. Jed was useful, so Jed needed to be kept around. But the forty-four year old gun enthusiast had the heart of an octogenarian. It was astounding how he'd made it this far given how poorly he treated his body.

Jed turned his way and smiled wide; his anger forgotten. "AY," he exclaimed, "you brought Little Gus with 'ya." The robust man walked up to the boy and looked him over. "You got bigger."

"I'm a kid. Kids grow." Angus said, not meeting the man's gaze.

Jed cackled. "Still as sharp as a tack, I see!" He slapped the boy on the back. Angus never knew how to feel about Jed O'Bannon. He was friendly, sure, but in a threatening sort of way. He always seemed to have something more important on his mind. Angus didn't know what Jed did for business outside of the gun range, but if it involved his dad he knew it couldn't be good.

"You're daddy's smart," he said, "gettin' you out here when you're young. My daddy never did anything like that for me."

Carl smirked, "You never HAD a daddy, Jed."

Jed socked the man in the arm jokingly, "AW, shut it! Everyone's got a dad! Mine just so happens to be...M.I.A."

He turned back to the boy, "How old are 'ya, Gus?" he asked.

"I'm eight."

Jed whistled in surprise, "Shit, kid, you're makin' me feel old!" He coughed again. "Feels like yesterday you were still in your dad's balls!" he laughed, VERY proud of himself. Carl smacked him upside the head for the comment.

"Cool it, would ya? He's a kid." Jed mumbled something under his breath. He fixed his greasy black hair; properly slicking it back.

Angus turned away, hiding his face under his hair. He didn't want Mr. O'Bannon or his dad to see his face. His cheeks and ears were burning and hot tears were forming in his eyes. He hated being treated like this. Like he was an extension of his father. You're supposed to be in the shadow of a sibling, not your own father. It's not like Carl tried to help him with that problem. He didn't care. He never cared.

Carl and Jed's conversation was interrupted by a phone ringing. Carl reached into his pocket and sighed when he read the caller ID.

"Hello Lauren." he answered. Angus' eye widened.

 _Lauren? That's mom's name. He's talking to mom!_

"Yes, Lauren, I get it." Carl said, sounding dejected. Jed laughed into his had as Angus ran up.

"Can I talk to her dad?" the boy asked, excited. Carl's only response was to stick a finger in the boy's face; telling him to wait.

"Yes. Yeah, I'll have it all out of the apartment by Saturday. Yes. Oh, real nice."

The smile slowly left Angus' face as he backed away from the two men.

 _She didn't call for me…_

"Yeah, I'll do that, Lauren. I'll talk to you." he hung up and pocketed his phone once again. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fucking bitch." he hissed. Jed smiled.

"Women, Carl. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em."

"Oh, you can DEFINITELY live without them. I never need another in my life for as long as I live. Fucking...soul sucking bitch."

Angus rushed back to his firing lane, making sure to face away from the adults. His face burned with anger.

 _She doesn't care._

He felt his hand involuntarily clench around the pistol he was holding. His grip tightened as he thought more about his dad.

 _"It's me and you, kid. We've got to have each other's backs because no one else will."_

Angus lifted the gun, aiming down the sights at the target. This'll show him. If he can make this shot then things would be different.

 _"You have to learn to fire first, Angus. Your enemies aren't going to hesitate."_

The boy steadied his breath, his finger on the trigger. He was going to make this shot. He had to.

 _Mom doesn't care. Dad doesn't care, but I can make him care! I can't let him down!_

"Mr. O'Bannon! The woman at the desk said I'd find you back here."

The voice didn't belong to Jed or Carl. This voice was much calmer; more soft spoken. Angus turned around to see a new man enter the range. He was older like Jed and his father, but he looked a tad more youthful. Much more put together, as well. Compared to the gaudy leisure suit Jed was wearing and the "Post apocalyptic Rambo" look Carl was going for the stranger's navy polo was oddly calming. A pair of circular frame glasses sat comfortably on his face, and his salt and pepper hair was perfectly parted to the left. He looked more like a salaryman then someone who should be in O'Bannon's. Jed opened his arms and embraced the stranger.

"TRAVIS! I'm glad you could make it!" Jed pulled the man over to Carl. "Hutchinson, c'mere! This is the guy I was telling you about."

The stranger, Travis, looked nervous. Not scared; more giddy. Like a child who couldn't wait to open a present. He quickly shook Carl's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Hutchinson. Mr. O'Bannon's told me all there is to know about your business, and I have to say that I'm ecstatic to be apart of your empire."

Carl pulled his hand away, "I wouldn't call it an empire. Not yet, at least."

"Travis here is my book keeper of sorts. I've never been too good with numbers, but Trav's a wiz with that shit." Jed coughed again.

Angus took a step forward towards the three adults. They hadn't noticed him yet; they were too into their conversation.

"You flatter me, Mr. O'Bannon," Travis said flushed. Carl looked the man up and down before smiling.

"Alright. If Jed trusts you then you can't be all bad. Welcome to the team."

Angus knew that wasn't true. His dad always ran thorough background checks on any of his men. Carl was cautious, but he knew Jed was too stupid to betray him.

Travis adjusted his glasses and finally noticed the small boy with the pistol. Carl turned around and laughed at the boy.

"Don't worry about him. That's my kid: Angus. He's being fitted to run the business when I'm gone."

Travis raised an eyebrow, "Run the business? He looks no more than ten." Carl just smugly crossed his arms.

"And yet he's smarter than a fair share of the adults that live around here. You and him will be working a lot together when he gets a little older." The father said in a proud manner.

Travis smiled at the boy and dropped down on one knee. He held out his hand with a grin.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Angus. My name is Travis Reed. I'm gonna be working with your dad, so I hope we can be friends."

Angus hesitated before accepting the hand. What surprised him the most was how he felt when their hands met. It was something that he never felt in the presence of his father or the O'Bannon's.

He felt...safe.

* * *

That was the first time Angus had met Travis. He never did hit the target. His dad took him to shoot bottles in a junkyard. That's where he really honed his aiming skills. He'd always remember that look Travis gave him when they shook hands. He'd actually cared enough to drop down to his level; treating him as an equal. After that, whenever Travis came around their home he'd always stick by his side. Hid dad almost seemed jealous at times.

He wanted to laugh at the memory, but his eyes were drawn back to the news article on the wall. Even looking at it, not even reading the words, was making his eyes misty with tears. He threw his bouncy ball at his door. Two quick thuds echoed out as the ball bounced against the door, hit the floor, and rolled under his bed.

His stomach let out a low rumble, and Angus was given a less than subtle reminder that he never got to eat breakfast.

 _You're hungry._

 _ **You don't deserve food.**_

 _Fuck off for one second._

Angus left his room and walked into the main hall. It was empty sans one of the chess tables and Guardkuma #4 in front of the courthouse doors. The arms dealer walked closer to see Negenama and Ritsu sitting across from each other, an intense chess game between them.

Negenama was leaning forward, his fingers intertwined, and foot lightly tapping against the tiles. He looked to be in deep thought, eyes darting around the board. Ritsu was a lot calmer. She sat straight up; posture perfect, and she was fiddling with the white rook she'd taken from the tutor. Angus approached, prepared to be a nuisance.

"Who's winning?" he asked, ignorant of how chess worked. The game could've just started and he'd've been none the wiser. Chess had too many rules for his taste. Give him Shoots & Ladders any day; now THAT he was good at.

Negenama didn't bother looking up at him, "I am. Ritsu here has been putting up quite a good fight, but," he chuckled, "the tides are turning."

"Horses."

"Pardon?" the tutor asked, vexed by Angus' question. He pointed at the board like a confused child.

"There's usually horses, right? I know that much about chess. I know there's horse guys; you each get two. Where are they?"

A moment passed before Negenama closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. "First, they aren't called horses. They're knights. Second, they aren't on the board because we've captured each other's respective knights. Understand?" he asked with a little extra bite then was probably necessary.

"Oh. Understood." Angus said, clenching his fists. He _really_ wanted to hit him for the insulting tone, but he thought of Beatrix and what she said.

" _Do not isolate yourself. We have to stay as one, Angus."_

And so he bottled the rage and moved on.

"You're the white pieces, right Negenama? Ritsu has way more than you do." said Angus, trying to get under the other boy's skin. If he couldn't be super aggressive, then he was going to let it out in little ways. Plus, it's not like Negenama was trying to be nice or anything. No guilt.

"It doesn't matter how many pieces you have. What matters is the strength of your mind, and my mind can't be matched." he said, pride welling up in his voice.

 _GAH! What a fucking tool!_

"How've you managed to sit here and listen to this shit, Ritsu?" he the girl, but she was zoned out; still staring at the rook.

"Ritsu?" he asked again, poking her shoulder to get her attention. She seemed to snap out of her self-induced trance, blinking a few times. Then she smiled slightly.

"Zugzwang." she almost whispered.

"What?"

"Zugzwang," Negenama repeated the word, a smile forming under his mask, "a situation in which the obligation to make a move in one's turn is a serious, often decisive, disadvantage."

Ritsu sagely nodded, which caused Negenama's smile to grow. "Is this an admission of defeat, Ritsu?" He asked. Ritsu put down the rook.

"Not at all. I just know when my back is against the wall."

"You're confidence is admirable," Negenama said, "but losing isn't an option."

Angus cocked his eyebrow at the two. Why was Negenama being so...amicable? He was still being his prudish self, but with Ritsu he seemed to almost enjoy her company. They had a sort of playful banter between each other. Angus wouldn't be able to tolerate the tutor for more than five minutes, but then again Angus also didn't know how to play chess.

"Whatever you say, dude." Angus shrugged, walking up to Ritsu and leaning next to her hear. "I hope you beat him." He'd swear on his life that he'd heard her giggle, but it just sounded like a short exhale. He walked past the table and into the cafeteria.

There were more people there then he was prepared for. Iroha and Ramsey were sitting at a table and chatting together. Iroha was writing in a composition book while Ramsey tried his best to engage with her.

At the table behind them sat Beatrix and Manato. They seemed deep in a conversation as Gallus the chicken pecked at seed from Manato's open palm.

He looked back at Iroha and sucked in a deep breath.

 _Nice. Be. Nice._

Angus approached the table and sat down next to Ramsey, doing his best to be casual.

"You writing about me in that book?" he asked coyly, a strained smile plastered on his face. Iroha's only response was to given the coldest look he'd ever seen in his entire life. He felt the beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

 _Fuck. Bad start. Pull it back a bit._

Iroha turned back to the notebook, "I'm just taking a couple of notes," she said, "about are situation and some game plans."

"Anything of interest?"

"Not to you, probably."

Angus knocked on the table top out of frustration. Iroha was going to be a tough nut to crack, that much was obvious. It didn't help that they'd gotten off to a pretty rough start. He was standoffish and had made a stand against her, basically telling her "you can't rely on me". He turned to Ramsey, looking for some kind of back up.

Ramsey nodded, "Go easy on him, Iroha. I think he might actually be interested."

Iroha looked up from the notebook and into Angus' eyes. The boy pulled back at the girls gaze. It was like she was looking past him, almost at the wall behind him. Her gaze was piercing, but Angus didn't turn away. This was a test. She was looking for any kind of dishonesty in his face. If he looked away then she'd probably never trust him.

Iroha sighed and looked between the boys before speaking, "I'm trying to think back to the last thing that I remember before waking up in my cell," she said while closing her notebook. "I remember being in my room, and then there was this loud banging at my door. I thought it might've been my sister, but then I felt really dizzy. I felt this sudden pain in my back. I think I hit my head when I fell. Next thing I know I'm here."

The three fell silent. Ramsey was unconsciously tugging at his glove. He was clearly nervous about speaking up. Iroha looked at the two expectantly. She was waiting for one of them to share. Ramsey adjusted his tie before standing up, his cane in hand.

"I'm terribly sorry to flake on you, Ms. Hori, but I think I'm starting to feel a fever come on. I'll be in my room if I'm needed." He turned to Angus and tipped his hat, "Mr. Hutchinson." With that final goodbye, he turned on his heel and left the cafeteria.

"It's Angus." the boy said weakly. He looked at Iroha, who was now staring at him. Angus sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"I was in a courtroom. Well, I was outside of the courtroom, but I was inside the courthouse, you know?" Iroha nodded.

"Anyway, I was standing by the water cooler. I think I was drinking water?"

"You think?"

Angus' face went from contemplative to an angry snarl. "Fuck off, okay? This is hard for me."

Instead of getting upset, Iroha shook her head. "I'm sorry. Please continue."

"Anyway, I was standing by the water cooler. Al Watson came up to me and he started talking to me about...something. It's still a bit fuzzy."

Iroha cocked her eyebrow, "Al Watson?"

"My dad's lawyer." Angus chuckled. "I gotta tell you. This guy's the funniest fucker you've ever looked at. He had this gap in his teeth that NO grown adult should ever have. You couldn't look at the guy in the eyes it was so bad." he laughed. His smile quickly left him though.

"He...he was talking to me, and my head started feeling fuzzy. His words were muffled. I couldn't hear him right. Then just like that," he snapped his fingers for affect, "everything was black. Then I'm here. Just like you assholes."

Iroha reopened her notebook and started writing. Angus tried to look over her shoulder. "Alright, now you HAVE to be writing about me."

"I'm sorry if it hurt you to relive that memory, Angus." she said solemnly.

It was Angus' turn to be confused. "Why would it hurt me?"

"You were talking to your dad's lawyer while in a courthouse." she deadpanned. "I won't ask what the case was about. It's not my business."

Angus let out a humorless laugh, "Yeah. It isn't your business, is it? Word to the wise, Iroha? You should be careful who you trust around here."

"What do you mean?"

"That bear said we were all criminals, right? You could be surrounded by a bunch of rapists and murderers right now. Not all crimes are white collar, you feel me? Not like honey-trapping or whatever the hell it is that you do."

Her brow furrowed, "Being a criminal doesn't equate to being a bad person. Am I really the first person to tell you that?" she asked confused.

Angus couldn't look at her. She was right, but it was hard to forget that there are good people in the world when you spend so much time surrounded by the lowest of the low. The world was filled with scumbags like Jed O'Bannon and he had the displeasure of putting on a mask and shaking their hands. Doing business with them.

"I'm not so sure about that." he said.

"So, what? You think I'm a bad person? Megumi? Beatrix?" Iroha wasn't convinced by Angus' cold words.

"Yes. All bad people." he said quickly. They stared at each other for a moment before Iroha looked away to continue writing.

"It's clear you don't believe that. You're quite easy to read."

"No I'm not." Angus snapped back, pulling at his collar. When did this conversation turn into an interrogation? He thought being nice would mean eating lunch with people or talking about each other's favorite television show. This wasn't enjoyable, this was a slog!

 _Beatrix fucking owes me for this._

"Do…," Angus paused, doing his best to improvise an icebreaker, "you have any interests?" he asked lamely.

For what felt like the hundredth time this conversation, Iroha raised an eyebrow in both a mix of suspicion and confusion. "Why do you ask?"

Angus groaned, "For fucks sake, I'm trying to bond with you. Don't make this hard." he pleaded, half hoping she'd just give up and leave.

"I love the theatre." she stated.

"What's that?" Angus asked, unprepared for her quick answer.

"The theatre. Broadway. I adore the craftsmanship that goes into it and all the work it takes to make a live performance go perfect." For the first time Angus could, he saw Iroha look actually sort of...happy. Her eyes were half lidded as she released a slow breath; lost in thought.

 _Okay. That's a start. Build off of this._

"Well, do you have a favorite play?" Angus didn't know much about theatre. Okay, he didn't know _anything_ about theatre. Iroha would have to do most of the talking if this was to keep going.

She closed her eyes for a moment and let out a quiet hum.

"" _Capricorn"_ ," she said, her eyes still shut, "I got to see that show live, and it was beautiful. My sister and I went to see it together."

"She likes plays too?"

"Almost as much as I do. She wants to be an actress."

"That's a hard business to break into."

"That's what I told her, but she's good. She isn't Ultimate level yet, but with practice I've no doubt that she'll be incredible."

Angus' face softened, "You...uh...you speak pretty highly of your sister."

A fond smile crept onto Iroha's face, "We've been through a lot together. She doesn't think it, but she's stronger then she gives herself credit for."

"What's that like?" He asked, idly playing with his sleeve.

"What is what like?" she said confused.

"Having a sibling? I'm an only child so I wouldn't know."

Iroha closed her eyes in contemplation to find the right words.

"It's like...like a friend that you live with, but you're only friends sometimes. Sometimes there's fights, but for the most part you'd do anything for each other. It's funny. Even if you don't get along, there'll always be no hesitation to help them out of a bad situation."

"Seriously?" he faltered. He wasn't prepared for such...raw honesty. The look in Iroha's eyes was intense. She clearly meant every word.

"As serious as I CAN be." a moment passes before Angus' eyes widen in realization.

"Wait. _"Capricorn"_? Didn't that Sophia girl make that?" he remembered Joaquin name-dropping some plays that she'd apparently written.

Iroha smiled, "Sophie Gulliame: Ultimate Play Director. She's one of the youngest play directors to ever hit Broadway. She won a Tony award for best play at sixteen."

"Sixteen?" Angus was shocked. He didn't know you could do ANYTHING as complex as direct a play when that young. Getting on Broadway was something else entirely. Iroha just nodded her head.

"Sixteen. _"Death of Leland Warner"_ turned a lot of heads when it first started, but in my opinion _"Capricorn"_ is the superior show."

"A little biased, aren't you?" Angus said with a grin. His originally tightly wound demeanor was now more impish and playful. He couldn't believe it. Here he was, actually having a pleasant conversation in this hellhole.

 _Eat shit, Ludivine. I can be nice._

"Maybe." she said, jotting down more notes.

"If you like her work so much then maybe you should talk to her." Angus blurted out. "I mean, she's stuck here with us. So, why not take advantage of it?"

Iroha paused before closing her notebook and getting up, giving the arms dealer another smile.

"Thank you, Angus. This has been nice."

She patted him on the shoulder before walking out of the cafeteria. Angus winced. She'd patted him on his injured shoulder, but he did his best not to make a face. That was...shockingly easy. He owed it to Iroha to make an attempt at camaraderie, and he was surprised that it'd been so easy to iron things out.

He went into the kitchen for food. The omelette he was going to eat had become cold, so he tossed it out in place of a simple granola bar. He walked out and moved to the table with Manato and Beatrix. Beatrix looked excited to see him; Manato less so. His eyes were briefly visible from under his bangs, and they looked slightly fearful.

"Hello Angus," Beatrix cheered, a wide smile on her face, "what were you and Iroha talking about?" she asked.

Angus shrugged, "Nothing important. Just shooting the shit, I guess." he turned to Manato, who was focusing on Gallus. "What's up, man?"

"N-nothing," the boy said, looking down at his lap. His chicken companion, however, wasn't afraid to stare Angus down. Even with one eye shut Gallus had his sights locked onto him.

"Uhm," Angus froze, suddenly nervous. For lack of better words, this chicken looked like it'd seen some shit. Its feathers were war-torn, uneven and matted in places. "Why's your chicken mad-dogging me right now?"

"OH! I'm s-sorry! Gallus, stop!" he yelled, pulling the chicken into his arms. The sudden movement spooked the bird, causing it to struggle and leap from his arms. With a loud caw Gallus ran for the doors of the cafeteria. The door had been cracked open, so the chicken pushed through without issue. Wordlessly, Manato ran after him, leaving Angus and Beatrix alone.

"So," Angus started, kind of flabbergasted with how fast that happened, "what were you guys talking about?"

Beatrix tapped her finger against the table, "We discussed what we will do together when we leave this place."

"He ran pretty quickly for someone who was talking about something so innocent."

"He had to catch his feather friend."

Angus rolled his eyes, "Before that. He looked scared."

"He was," she said, "he was scared of YOU."

Her words were so matter of fact that Angus couldn't even react. He was scared of him? Finding him annoying was one thing, but being scared of him? His dad and his cronies had always been the intimidating ones. He'd have to try and talk to Manato and clear the air. That is if Gallus would let him. Manato seemed like a stand up guy (if not a bit frail), but his companion clearly had no intention of being friendly.

"You were talking to Iroha," Beatrix said, "that's good."

"Oh yeah, we're the best of friends." Beatrix crossed her arms at the boys sarcasm and pouted. Angus put his hands up in defense.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm just doing what you told me to do."

Beatrix sighed, "Yes, you are. I cannot be mad at you. You are trying."

"See? I'm not all bad."

 _ **You know that isn't true.**_

"Is it my turn?"

"Pardon?" Angus asked, confused.

Beatrix smiled, "Now we talk and become closer friends, yes?"

This was an important moment. Angus could feel the air around the two still. Angus grinded his teeth anxiously. Beatrix kept looking at him with her wide violet eyes. His finger tapped on the table without much thought. Should he spend time with her? He wasn't sure. Something about the girl made him uncomfortable. Maybe it was how comfortable she seemed around him? They hadn't known each other for more than a day and she acts like they've been friends for years. Maybe he was overthinking this. What else was there to do but wait it out? Fuck it.

"Yeah, sure."

"Wunderbar!"

 **Angus** : Alright. What do you want to talk about?

 **Beatrix** : Hmmm…

 **Angus** : Okay. I'll start. Do you remember your Ultimate Talent yet?

 **Beatrix** : I...I don't. It is all still very fuzzy.

 **Angus** : It's all good if you don't remember. We'll talk about something else.

 **Beatrix** : It is strange. I remember everything EXCEPT my talent.

 **Angus** : Really?

 **Beatrix** : Really! I remember my home. I remember mother!

 **Angus** : Mother. Alright, that's a good start. What's your mom like?

 **Beatrix** : Oh, she is incredible, Angus. Mother is sooooooo smart! Smarter than anyone I know!

 **Angus** : That's cool, I guess.

 **Beatrix** : She's very popular too!

 **Angus** : Popular? How so?

 **Beatrix** : She was always having guests over. Male guests, usually. She always kept me downstairs and away while they spent time together.

 **Angus** : Oh...uhm...what else did you and your mother do together?

 **Beatrix** : We'd spend time cleaning the home together. Our house is so large.

 **Angus** : I wonder what that's like? Living in a big house.

 **Beatrix** : There is always work to be done. It gets dirty very easily.

 **Angus** : Sounds like a lot of work.

 **Beatrix** : It is, but it's okay so long as I'm with mother.

Angus breathed a sigh of relief, happy to get the conversation away from Beatrix's mom's...dubious sounding past times. It wasn't his business, anyway. The conversation was kept light from that point onward. Beatrix talked in length about her home life and what her mother was like. Angus tore through a handful of granola bars during their talk. It lasted for about an hour before Angus stood up; stetching his back.

"Alright. This has been fun, but I'm bored."

Beatrix looked surprised for a moment, but then smiled, "This has been fun, kumpel. Can we do it again?" she asked.

"Yeah," Angus said, "but later. Maybe tomorrow, alright?"

Beatrix nodded, "Okay, Angus."

* * *

 **Beatrix's Profile Card: Entry #1**

Beatrix remembers her home life and thinks very highly of her mother. She was always kept busy with chores around their large home. Beatrix's mom worked as...an escort of sorts, and brought her "friends" home quite often.

* * *

Angus walked out of the cafeteria and into the main hall. Ritsu and Negenama were still neck deep in their intense chess game, so Angus decided to leave them alone. He looked over to Guardkuma #4, who had already been staring him down. I guess standing in front of a door all day got boring; even if you were an unfeeling robot. Any kind of movement was probably like a roller coaster of excitement.

He was about to head back to his room before he felt something hit him in the head. Nothing heavy like a brick, but enough to get his attention. A folded piece of paper landed at his feet. He picked it up, unfolded it, and read its contents.

 _Meet me up in the nurse's office._

Simple. Concise. It left no room for argument. Couldn't even put a question mark at the end? Let him at least feel like he had a choice?

Angus crumpled the paper up and tossed it aside. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and made his way up the spiral staircase. In a matter of seconds Angus was standing in front of the door to the nurse's office.

He wasn't sure who'd want to talk to him privately. He'd just finished having a conversation with Beatrix, and Joaquin or Feliks would've just come up to him and started talking. They wouldn't have written him a cryptic letter. With a deep breath he opened the door.

And saw Tatsuo Hojo sitting on the bed, Ryucchi's head in her lap.

Whelp. To say Angus was expecting the dog fighter would've been a lie. He thought he'd made his stance on her being around him abundantly clear. Angus crossed his arms in a huff.

"What do you want?" He asked curtly.

Tatsuo sighed, standing up from the bed, "See, this the shit I wanted to talk about."

Angus scoffed, "What? You're mad because I'm mad?"

"Sort of, yeah."

"Well, that's stupid."

"It's not stupid! Will you shut up and listen!?" she shouted. Her fists were tightly clenched and she looked to be shaking with anger. Seeing his owner so tightly wound made Ryucchi's head perk up and a low grumble escaped from him. Angus instinctively stepped back and put up his hands in defense.

"Woah. Relax, mangy. Keep your mutt under control, will you?"

"You just don't know when to stop talking do you?" she asked, talking through her teeth. The mastiff by this point had hopped off the bed an sauntered to Tatsuo's side.

Tatsuo pinched the bridge of her nose in an attempt to calm herself. "Look, I didn't come here to argue. I didn't want to fight." She snapped her fingers and pointed back at the bed. "Down, boy." At her words the mastiff quietly moved back to the bed and laid down, but he never took his eyes off of Angus.

"I called you here to make peace." she said.

Angus was skeptical. "Make peace?" he thrust out his still bandaged arm, "Unless you can somehow make THIS go away, it's gonna be a little hard to be besties."

Tatsuo sighed and crossed her arms, "We don't need to be friends, but we CAN'T be enemies. We're stuck in this shithole and the bear seemed pretty serious the whole killing each other thing. We need to be on the same side if we're going to get out of here."

She seemed genuine, but Angus wasn't sure how to proceed. She was right, all things considered. Being stuck here was one thing, but egging someone on to the point where they might want to kill you was something else entirely. He didn't like Tatsuo, and Tatuso didn't like him, but she had a good point. Angus stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked down at his feet.

"Fine," he moaned, doing his best to make it sound like the agreement was killing him, "we truce until we get out here. It's all out the window once we get outta here, got that?"

Tatsuo shot him a toothy grin, "Oh, you don't gotta worry about that. Once we get out of here I'm kickin' your ass! Nobody calls Ryucchi a mutt and gets away with it! Right, Ryucchi?"

The dog barked in response.

Angus chuckled before he turned around and walked toward the exit, waving lazily at the dog fighter and her companion.

"Yeah, I'll hold you to that."

* * *

Angus made his way down the staircase. That wasn't too bad. Being nice wasn't very hard. It'd only been a couple of hours and he'd already made nice with both and Iroha and Tatsuo. Why hadn't he been doing this all his life?

" _Remember what I told you, kid. That nice shit will only get you as far as a meaner person will carry you. Nice people trust easily, and people who trust easy are likely to get a knife in their back, and I'm not getting a knife in my back because YOU trust easy."_

Oh yeah. That might have something to with it.

He shook the thought from his head and looked up to see Ritsu sitting by herself. Negenama was no longer with her. He approached the prosecutor, who seemed deep in thought.

"Didn't take his loss too well, did he?" He asked, a smug smile on his face. He'd have to find the tutor after this and give him a hard time. He said he'd play nice, but something told him that Beatrix wouldn't be bent out of shape if Negenama didn't like him.

"He won, Angus. About ten minutes ago," she put down the bishop she was holding back on the board and looked at Angus.

"Zugzwang," Angus said, realization dawning on his face, "you knew you were going to lose. That's what you meant."

Ritsu smiled, "I knew he had me beat by his tenth move. After that it was just a matter of waiting it out."

Angus pointed at the board, "But you had more pieces than him. You had a shit ton."

He was right. Looking at the board it would appear that Ritsu had had the upper hand. The black pieces far outnumbered the white ones.

"Just because you have the numbers doesn't mean you've won. Yes, your chances are better, but if you're skilled enough, you can make your way out of any bind."

"So, he was skilled enough?" Angus was disappointed. You can't give someone shit if they won. Then you'd just seem bitter.

"He was skilled," a cheeky smile spread across her face, "but he didn't walk away unscathed."

"What do you mean?" He asked, sitting across from her.

"He won, yes, but it wasn't a clean victory." She started resetting the game board, "Negenama isn't the type to face opposition that actually poses a threat. So, having someone have him on the ropes for awhile is going to stick with him."

"That's so devilish of you." Angus smirked, leaning forward. "I never took you for the vindictive type."

"I'm usually not," she shrugged, "but it's also unusual that you meet someone so highly strung."

Angus leaned back, "Fuck him. Whatever gets under his skin is good enough for me. Good someone took him down a peg."

"It'd be wrong for me to be so judgmental of him. He reminds me a lot of when I first started prosecuting."

"You?" Angus asked surprised. "You don't strike me as someone who has a huge stick up their ass."

 **Ritsu** : Well, I wouldn't go that far. But there was a time I had quite the chip on my shoulder.

 **Angus** : Seriously? I guess prosecuting can be pretty stressful.

 **Ritsu** : It can be, and I'd be lying if I said I haven't become a little...jaded.

 **Angus** : Then why keep doing it?

 **Ritsu** : I'm sorry?

 **Angus** : If you don't like it, or it's making you unhappy, then why keep doing it?

 **Ritsu** : It's not that I don't enjoy it. It can just be hard sometimes.

 **Angus** : And thus I reiterate: why keep doing it?

 **Ritsu** : Because I have a duty to uphold.

 **Angus** : A duty?

 **Ritsu** : I used to be very blinded by my hubris. All I cared about was getting guilty verdicts and putting away the "bad guy".

 **Angus** : There's more to it?

 **Ritsu** : To me there is. It's not just about justice anymore. It's about recovery.

 **Angus** : I don't think I get it.

 **Ritsu** : It's about preventing crimes from happening to begin with.

 **Angus** : Okay, but how would you do that?

 **Ritsu** : Just...talking with them. Digging deep and finding out what exactly is wrong with them. And if that doesn't work, then putting them away works too.

 **Angus** : Maybe you should've become a counselor instead of a prosecutor.

 **Ritsu** : Maybe so, but...it was important that I become a prosecutor.

 **Angus** : Any reason why?

Ritsu paused, a contemplative look in her eyes before smiling at the boy. "That's a story for another day."

After resetting the chess board she stood up, readjusting her blazer. "This has been nice, Angus. I'm glad that we could talk normally despite everything that has happened."

Angus grinned, "True. It's good to be normal."

* * *

 **Ritsu's Profile Card: Entry #1**

Ritsu used to be a much more cutthroat a prosecutor, but time has mellowed her out a lot. Her outlook has changed a lot; now believing more in reform then just blind justice. Something lead her to want to be a prosecutor, but only she knows what that is.

* * *

With a soft goodbye Ritsu silently took off for the staircase. From what Angus was able to see she went into the library. Angus slumped down in his chair and groaned. Being nice was becoming exhausting, but he was doing pretty good. Iroha and Tatsuo seemed like they didn't hate him now. Well, Tatsuo was still up for debate, but at least she wouldn't be at his throat. There was just one person who he still had to talk to.

Ludivine Dupont.

Angus buried his face into hands, sighing in defeat. He'd rather get shot with a harpoon again then talk with Ludivine. She seemed to have it out for him. From shooting him to trying to turn people against him; she had it out for the boy it seemed. Then a thought occurred to him.

 _Who the hell is she? Who gives a shit what she says and does? Fuck her!_

Angus got to his feet, a new energy inside of him. Who was SHE to try and put him down? She didn't know him. Not really. She could PRETEND to know him, but that psychiatrist shit was all smoke and mirrors. That's what his dad would say, at least. They get in your head with a certain type of wording or phrasing, and BAM, they were neck deep in your wallet like that.

Well, NO SIR! Not him! She could take all her pseudointellectual mumbo jumbo and stuff it for all he cared. He could make friends. People liked him, didn't they? Joaquin and Beatrix liked him, and Feliks...tolerated him.

 _I'll go and find her and tell her what I did. Then she'll HAVE to take back what she said about me!_

With that thought keeping him motivated, Angus marched off to try and find the one person he still had a grievance with.

 **000**

 **And that's another one in the bag! I was hoping I'd get this done sooner, but real life stuff gets in the way sometimes. I got it done though, and I guess that's what matters.**

 **Sorry if your character didn't appear in this chapter, but they'll get their chance next chapter. I promise I didn't forget about them. I hope you've been enjoying the trash fire that has been this story.**


	8. Chapter 1-3

Angus made his way up the up the stairs; fueled only by spite. By pride and a deep need to prove Ludivine wrong.

" _Psychotic episode", huh? I'll show her psychotic._

That line of thought probably wouldn't get him too far with Ludivine, but he didn't really care right now. He was angry. Ludivine didn't have to like him, but she'd have to rethink what she thought of him when she heard how well he was doing at being friendly.

Angus stomped to the top of the stairs and looked around. Where would she be? She didn't seem like the type to enjoy the game room, and she wouldn't have any reason to be in the nurse's office. Maybe she was in her room? Angus felt like he'd've noticed her walk through the hall if that were the case. Then again he was pretty enthralled with his conversation with Ritsu. The prosecutor certainly knew how to spin a wire.

While lost in thought as to where Ludivine could be, Angus felt a small tap on his shoulder. He was caught off guard and turned around in a flash, only to get an eyeful of nobody. Just the stairs he just walked up. Then another tap on his shoulder turned him back around. Shimei Takenaka was looking up at him with wide curious eyes.

"FUCK!" Angus shouted, almost falling down the stairs. He clutched the railing and his chest, trying to catch his breath. "What the fuck is wrong with you, kid?!"

Shimei crossed her arms, "I'm not a kid, Angus. I'm seventeen! I got scouted for Hope's Peak like you did!"

"Well, a grown adult wouldn't fucking...sneak up on me like that!" Angus took a deep breath and relaxed, "Especially not in a situation like this."

"You're taking that seriously?" she said, blowing a raspberry at the boy. "It's just a prank!"

Angus raised his eyebrow at the girl. She wasn't serious, was she? Optimism was one thing, but denial was a whole other can of worms that Angus had no interest in prying into.

He gave the girl a once over, almost studying her. He hadn't paid the hiker much mind when they'd first met. This was the first time he'd gotten a good look at her.

What a fucking mess she was.

Her clothes were tattered and her pants and boots were caked in dry mud. Her poor backpack was falling apart at the seams. And her hair…

Dear god her hair.

Shimei's hair was long and poofy. It was resting on the floor it was so long, and it was littered with twigs and leaves. Angus subconsciously tugged at his own hair. He felt each individual knot. Just looking at her hair was giving him anxiety.

"Are you okay?" she asked innocently, "You seem distracted."

"How're you okay with that?" he asked, stepping forward. He yanked a twig from its fluffy prison. Shimei squeaked in surprise. Angus flicked the twig over the railing.

"Okay with what?"

"Having all that shit in your hair? It'd drive me crazy to be that filthy."

Shimei just huffed in annoyance, "My hair's always been like this."

"Always?" Angus quirked an eyebrow. The girl wasn't joking. That much was clear. Being a hiker was dirty work. Angus never took to the great outdoors like his father had. One of the few things Carl Hutchinson had a genuine love for was nature. He'd often take his only child hunting and hiking during the hot Nevada summers. Just replace tall pine trees with long stretches of desert.

"So what? You've never combed your hair?" he asked. Shimei looked away in deep thought before turning back smiling. "Nope! Not once!"

Next step in kindness is a go! Ludivine could wait.

"You went to the warehouse, right? What kind of stuff does it have?"

"Everything you could need!"

"Awesome. That's where we're going."

Angus turned around and started back down the staircase. He took a few steps before stopping, and then continued when he heard the soft footsteps following behind him. That was easy enough. Glad to see she was reasonable.

However, what wasn't reasonable was that a second later Shimei climbed up onto his back and locked her arms around his neck. His reaction is about what you'd expect.

"What the fuck are you doing!" he screamed, yanking at the girl.

"We're going to the warehouse." she said, nonplussed by Angus' anger. "You don't need to be strapped to my back!" he seethed.

"You wanted me to come with you, so this is how we're doing it." Shimei showed her point by planting her chin on the top of Angus' head. The arms dealer could only grumble in annoyance before continuing down the stairs. They reached the bottom of the stairs and moved to the warehouse when he heard Shimei quietly mumbling to herself.

" _I can show you the world~"_

 _Is she seriously singing right now?_

Shimei was lightly kicking her feet as the two entered the warehouse. This was the first time he was actually seeing it. It was just as big as Joaquin had told him. He thought maybe he'd been exaggerating. Guardkuma #2 was sitting at the top one of tall shelves, looking down at the two Ultimates who'd just entered.

" _Shining, shimmering splendid~"_

"Aladdin?"

Shimei pulled her head down and looked Angus directly in the eye, her face inches from his. A little weird for Angus considering she was currently looking at him while upside down.

"You know Aladdin?"

Angus grabbed her by her waist and heaved her over his shoulders, flipped her around and plopped her onto the ground in front of him.

"Pretty sure everyone knows Aladdin, small fry."

"Not everyone." she said, shaking her head, "Do you watch a lot of Disney movies?

Angus walked passed her, scanning his eyes across the many shelves. "Not anymore. Disney is kid shit. I don't have time for it."

Shimei gasped, scandalized, "Disney movies are NOT only for kids. There's plenty in them for adults to enjoy."

Angus chuckled as he peeked into a box, "Oh right. Those impromptu musical numbers sung by bland archetypes really speak to me as an adult with ADULT things to worry about." he was just trying to tease her at this point. This was actually sort of fun.

Shimei walked in front of him and held her hand out to stop him. He looked down at her, confused. She closed her eyes and extended her hand to the boy.

"You've got a friend in me~" she sang softly.

"No. Fuck off. We're not doing this." Angus deadpanned, turning away from the girl.

"You've got a friend in me~" Shimei repeated from behind him.

"That's not even fucking Disney." he said, still walking away. Shimei's only response was to do a cartwheel around his side and stand in front of him again.

"When the road looks~rough ahead!" she held her arms out as if waiting to be embraced. Angus didn't move.

"And your miles and miles from your nice warm bed~" Shimei moved in herself, wrapping her arms around the boys waist.

"You just remember what your old pal said~" Angus pushed at the girl to make her let go, but she wasn't budging. "I'm getting pissed now, small fry. Let go." He hissed through clenched teeth.

If Shimei heard him then she didn't show it. "Yeah, you've got a friend in me~" she just kept singing.

Her voice wasn't horrible, but that was beside the point. This was becoming a little ridiculous. Did she think this proved anything, and why the hell was she still going? Angus finally managed to push her away.

"If you're trying to prove that you aren't childish then it's not working." Angus crossed his arms as the hiker jumped to the side and started climbing up the shelf to his right.

"You've got a friend in me! You've got a friend in me~" She kept singing while climbing. Guardkuma #2 was watching her by this point. It looked very tired.

"You're really doing the second verse? Seriously?" Angus groaned, still keeping his eyes locked on the girl.

"If you've got trouble, I got 'em too~" she reached into a box on the shelf and dropped handfuls of confetti and loose glitter on top of Angus. Why...was there just loose confetti and glitter in a box? Why would they ever need that? "There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you~"

Now, at this point, Angus thought that this couldn't possibly get stranger. How could she make it worse? She'd already made him the unwilling participant in a musical number and, in his opinion, it's difficult to get weirder than that. Maybe if she were to jump from the shelf and land directly on Angus' shoulders…

That'd probably do it.

"THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!" he shouted. He was thrown off balance from the weight Shimei added. He stumbled into the shelf, knocking boxes down in the process.

"We stick together and we can see it through~" she just kept singing as she slipped off of Angus as he fell on his butt. The shelf quaked as more boxes and duffels fell on top of and around them.

"'Cause you've got a friend in me~" she belted out the lyrics while wrapping her arm around him.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, there was silence. Shimei had stopped. Angus breathed a sigh of relief, happy to be free of the torture. He turned to the girl was inches away from his face. She was looking at him expectantly, her eyes wide and doughy. Angus knew what she was waiting for. With a sigh of defeat he swallowed his pride.

"Yeah, you've got a friend in me~" he sang, finishing off the chorus. Shimei looked like she'd won the lottery. She was daft if she thought Angus would continue the song. She wrapped her arms around the boy, pressing her cheek against his.

And there the two Ultimates sat, hugging on cold tiled floor, surrounded by the mess they'd made.

And Angus laughed.

He laughed, and Shimei's smile threatened to split her face. Angus' laughter echoed through the empty warehouse. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes as he clenched his stomach. His laughter was infectious as Shimei started laughing along with him.

"Looks like Angus CAN have fun!" she said in between deep breaths.

Angus finally started to calm down, "Oh this isn't because of fun. I think I've just finally lost my fucking mind. Congrats, small fry. You've broken me."

Pessimistic? Maybe. However, he was still laughing, and Shimei saw that as a win. She let go of him and rested against the shelf. Angus, laughing fit now complete, looked at the mess he involuntarily took part in. Boxes and bags filled with miscellaneous items were scattered all over the floor. The Guardkuma's would have their work cut out for them. Shimei just kept smiling.

"You're still laughing. You should laugh more. It sounds nice."

Angus wasn't paying attention to the hiker, he was busy rummaging through the mess they'd made. Pillows, robes, tooth brushes, blankets. He was on the right track, but he was still short what he actually wanted. Then he saw it, the handle sticking out of a tipped over cardboard box.

A hairbrush.

Angus crawled over to the box and emptied it out. There was a lot of them, each its own unique color.

"Fucking finally," the boy was relieved. That had been way more difficult than it had any right to be.

Shimei was confused. "A hairbrush?" she asked, "That's what you brought me down here for?"

"Exactly," Angus exclaimed, picking up a maroon hairbrush, "we're gonna get the twigs and dirt out of your hair."

Angus crawled back over to Shimei and sat behind her. She sat still as he ran the brush through her hair. Tough knots and grime ran the gambit in the girls dark green hair. Twigs and dried mud were falling like snow onto the white tiles. She grunted in pain as Angus did his best to work out the knots.

"Why is this so important to you?" she asked, biting her tongue from the discomfort.

"Because it bugs me that you got all this shit in your hair and you don't care. I'd go insane if my hair was this messy."

"My hair has been like this for as long as I can remember."

"You have no idea how much that upsets me, small fry."

He pulled the brush down the full length of the girls mane. Her hair really was something else. Thick and full; people would kill for hair like Shimei's. Seeing it be treated so poorly made Angus upset, but he bottled it for the sake of friendship. He wanted to barf at the thought.

"OW!" she yelped as Angus worked out a particularly large knot.

"You know," the boy said, doing his best to sound patronizing, "you wouldn't have to worry about these knots if you combed your hair."

Shimei pouted, "Combing my hair takes time out of my busy schedule."

"What could you POSSIBLY be doing that's so important?"

"Hiking, rewatching Disney classics, communing with nature," Shimei counted off on her fingers. Angus just snickered.

"Seriously? How's a pipsqueak like you supposed to "commune with nature"?"

"When you spend enough time in the woods you get a sense for what nature wants from you."

Angus was surprised. She sounded serious. Even if everything else the girl said sounded like a joke, this "communing" thing was something she believed in. Changing the subject was probably for the best.

"So, what's up with your obsession with Disney?" He asked, working out a small knot. That seemed to perk the girl up.

"I love Disney!" she all but yelled, excited to have the subject changed.

"Enough to sing a song from a non-Disney film?"

"Pixar IS Disney, Angus!" the girl had very...strong opinions. She was even more serious now. Angus flinched at her tone. He was bombing hard. How could he so easily make nice with the girl who actively didn't like him, but it was the Disney obsessed hiker he was striking out with? He didn't get people. He'd loved to bicker, but that'd get him nowhere with her. So he acquiesced.

"Fine. Pixar is Disney," he grunted, plucking what looked like a small pebble out of the girls hair, "next ice breaker. Favorite Disney film?"

"Pocahontas!" she said without hesitation. "It's music is so pretty and Pocahontas is my favorite Disney princess!"

"Oh. That's...nice." Angus was hesitant. He didn't have the heart to shatter the illusion and tell her about the story of Pocahontas'...less than pleasant origins.

"What's your favorite?"

His favorite Disney movie? Easy.

"Princess and the Frog."

"Interesting choice. Why?"

That was a question he probably should've been prepared for, but it still caught him off guard.

"I'm supposed to be the one asking you questions." he deflected, pulling a small leaf free from her hair. How the hell'd she let it get this bad?

"But I'm curious. I want to know why it's your favorite," the girl moaned.

"...The music."

It wasn't a lie. Angus would never admit it to anyone, but the soundtrack to the 2009 Disney film had ended up playing in his car more times then he'd like to admit. The girl turned around and looked up at him.

"That's it?" she asked, eyes for of curiosity.

"I...I guess? What else do you want from me?" Angus responded, indignant to her questioning. Shimei just turned back around.

"That can't be the only thing you like. You probably just haven't thought about it enough. We'll watch it together when we get out of here."

Angus' grip on the hairbrush tightened at her words.

 _Presumptuous, aren't we, small fry?_

"Ow!" she yelped as Angus roughly pulled the hairbrush from her hair.

"Aw shit," he groaned, putting down the brush, "my bad.".

 _ **How cute. She actually thinks we're going to get out of here.**_

"So, you...you sounded pretty sure about that "getting out of here" thing." he said, a clear discomfort in his voice.

She looked at him, confused, "Well, why wouldn't I be? I'm sure whoever did this to us will get bored in a day or two, and then BAM! We're out of here!" she said excitedly.

"You really don't think this is for real?" Angus stood up and tossed the hairbrush back into the hairbrush pile. One of the Guardkuma's would have to clean up the mess because he sure as shit wasn't going to do it. Nothing was broken, so he didn't break a rule. ZERO obligation to clean up after himself. That'd show 'em.

Shimei shook her head, "I don't." She said with no hesitation, like there was no way to doubt her words. Her confidence had him boggled. Denial was one problem, but ignoring the threat was dangerous.

Angus laughed, but it was completely hollow, "I can guarantee you one thing, small fry," he muttered, staring down at the mess they'd made. He lifted a finger up, "all it takes is one idiot to snap and cause a snowball effect. Next thing you know people are dropping like flies and," Angus punctuated his point by shrugging and blowing a raspberry. "There goes the fucking neighborhood."

"It's quite arrogant of you to assume we're all like you, isn't it, Angus?" a new voice called out to the couple.

Not unlike a beast leaping from the shrubbery to catch its prey, Junji Otsuka appeared from what felt like thin air. His debonair didn't falter as he looked at the surprised pair of Ultimates. Shimei wasn't bothered by the boy's surprise entrance. She almost seemed happy, in fact.

Angus...had been caught off guard.

"FUCK!" he howled, backing up against the shelf behind him. More debris fell from some of the higher up spots structure, which landed with a resounding thud. Angus' chest heaved as he collected himself.

"What the fuck is it with you people and sneaking up on me!?" he shouted, his face red from embarrassment. Junji just chuckled.

"While your outbursts are funny they're unbecoming." he chirped, a confident smirk on his face.

How could people this weird be THIS confident? People thought that they were animals and vampires and angels, but then had the audacity to turn around and call the rest of society the odd ones? Angus didn't believe in it, nor did he respect it. He wasn't against escapism. He'd even go as far to call himself an advocate. However, dressing yourself up as a mythical creature and then getting upset when no one treats you like said mythical creature felt like it was dipping its big toe in the crazy pool.

"How'd you sneak up on us?" Shimei questioned. Junji just folded his arms.

"I was here before you. I just didn't want to make myself known yet."

"So, you were spying on us?" Angus asked accusingly.

"That's a bit of a harsh word for it, but I suppose that yes. I was spying."

Angus looked around the mess and found what he wanted slightly jutting out from underneath the shelf across from him. He walked forward and grabbed the blue and black backpack. He was lucky one fell in the scuffle. He'd've hated scrounging around the entire warehouse for one.

He tossed the bag at Shinei's feet.

"Here. That other bag is a piece of shit. You need a new one."

"But I like my backpack."

"It's hanging on by a stitch. Take the new one." Angus said, almost ordering her. Shimei pouted, but picked up the pack anyway. Junji quirked an eyebrow in surprise.

"Hm. I'd've never suspected a rattlecap such as yourself would have such compassion inside him. Perhaps my powers of perception have waned away in the past one hundred years." he pondered.

Angus stared the hirudotherapist down; his face neutral. Then he turned to Shimei.

"You better get a move on, small fry. Junji and I are gonna have some words."

Shimei got to her feet. While her hair was still pretty unkempt, the difference was staggering. Her hair was now nature free and the majority of knots had been taken care of. Her clothes and skin were still dirty, but progress had been made.

Without another word and the new bag in her arms, Shimei ran up to Angus and wrapped herself around his waist. She did the same for Junji before taking off for the exit.

"AND TAKE A SHOWER!" the arms dealer called over his shoulder. He waited for the sound of the door opening and closing before turning to face Junji with his hands on his hips.

"Okay," he started, "what's your problem?"

"I've no idea what you mean." he said smugly, turning away from Angus.

"First you spy on me, then you insult me," Angus listed, irritation coming through his gritted teeth, "nobody does shit like that unless they have a problem with someone. So spill it. What's the problem?".

A moment of silence passed as the two boys looked at each other. The air smelled faintly of cardboard and steel. Junji and Angus stared each other down; bright yellow met dark brown. Junji sighed and twirled a lock of his hair between his fingers.

"If you insist. I've never taken kindly to people such as yourself, Angus."

"People like me?"

"Thugs," Junji snapped, "people who think that they can get whatever they want by being aggressive. By being bullies."

Angus scoffed and turned away. Is this really what people thought of him? What Beatrix thought? What Feliks and Joaquin thought? That couldn't be. He was making an effort. Junji just hadn't seen it. He hadn't seen how he talked to Iroha, how Tatsuo and him made amends. He only saw him with Shimei. Whatever. Just because he didn't want to participate in a dance number didn't make him a bad guy.

"You got it wrong, man," Angus said, walking toward the exit, "you don't know a thing about me."

"Then prove me wrong." the vampire chided. Angus turned back to see Junji smiling at him, flashing his fangs in an almost threatening way.

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Angus spat, not wanting to back down. If the "Count" wanted a fight then he'd be happy to oblige. Nothing physical, but maybe he could scare the boy off. Intimidating was what he was best at.

His angry sneer didn't seem to be working. Junji looked more comfortable than anything as he leaned back against the shelf and gestured to two crates over by the wall.

"Have a seat, why don't you?" he said, his smug grin threatening to get even wider somehow, "Come converse with me, and then we can decide together whether you're truly trustworthy."

 _The nerve of this fucking guy…_

Angus ground his teeth in frustration, but still sat across from Junji.

"Alright," Angus said, throwing his hands up, "you got me in front of you. Now, what do you want to talk about?"

Junji's smirk never left his face as he leaned forward, his chin resting in his hands, "What got you into the arms dealing business, Angus?" he asked.

"It's the family business," Angus leaned back on his crate, stretching out, "my dad's the type to keep his familial bonds close, so I had a big role to play." That...was probably the biggest lie he'd ever told in his life. Carl Hutchinson would've sold anyone out if it meant he'd have at least one more day as a free man.

"So, you were going to inherit the business?"

"Yeah. As long as I didn't die I was a shoo-in."

Junji nodded and studied the others boys body language, scanning him up and down. Angus wanted to say something, but held his tongue. Being confrontational would only prove Junji right, and he was sure that he'd just _love_ to go running to the others to talk about how much of a "thug" he was. He wanted to play hard ball? Fine.

"And what about you, leech?" Angus taunted, putting as much vileness on the nickname as he could muster. "What got you into the age old tradition of bloodletting?"

"Well," Junji started, "if you must know. I come from The Inconnu, and as such-".

"The what?"

"Pardon?"

"You come from the what?" Angus asked again, very confused. Junji just laughed at the other boys bewilderment.

"The Inconnu are a sect of vampire who've removed themselves from the concerns of the Kindred." he stated matter of factly. Angus folded his arms and looked at Junji skeptically.

"I see…," he started, "you...do realize how insane you sound, right?"

 _HISS_

Angus leaned back at the sudden noise. It was so unexpected that he genuinely thought, for a brief moment, that perhaps a cat had snuck into the warehouse with them.

In reality it was just Junji, flashing his fangs like a dog showing off its canines.

"What the hell is your damage!?" Angus yelled, trying his hardest to not sound intimidated.

Junji leaned back on his crate, his snarl replaced with his smug grin. He could tell that he'd gotten to him.

"MY damage?" Junji retorted, pointing at him, "You dare say that I make no sense, when I could be saying the same for you."

"Me?" Angus indignantly asked. "How do I make no sense?"

"You've been consistently belligerent and standoffish to everyone here, but all of a sudden you've started brushing hair and gossiping about our predicament. How you managed to flip to the complete opposite end of the spectrum is beyond me." his voice was beginning to raise in tone as he continued with his rant, "You started today off by kicking the girl off a lunch table! You make. No. Sense."

The tables had flipped now and the boys had switched places. Now it was Angus running the conversation. Junji was becoming flustered, that much Angus could tell. This was his chance to properly flip the script. Don't back down. Push back.

"Cool," he said, smiling wide, "looks like we're both weirdos who don't make sense. Congrats, you have someone to relate to now."

Junji opened his mouth to speak, but shut it and looked to the floor is thought. Was this actually working? Was he actually getting through to him? He seemed stumped by the sentiment of his words. He didn't look upset; more perplexed than anything. Angus actually found himself feeling bad for a moment. Was it really so hard to believe someone could relate to you? Angus had never been very empathetic, but he knew what it was like to be alone.

However, Junji Otsuka was not a quitter, and he still had one more trick up his sleeve.

With one swift motion, he reached into his waistcoat and pulled out a jar filled with water and what looked like some kind of black sludge. Angus went from confused to panicked when Junji reached into the jar and pulled out the biggest leech he'd ever seen in his entire life. He pushed his entire crate back, scraping it against the floor. The leech just quietly started to curl up in Junji's hand.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!?" Angus shrilled, almost falling off his crate. The boy had prepared himself for a lot, but that was curveball if he'd ever seen one. The leech was gigantic. Fat and almost vantablack in color, the creature was basically enveloping Junji's entire palm. The hirudotherapist just looked at it lovingly, as if it were a pet.

"Hirudo medicinalis: the medicinal leech. Not only that, but probably the most exquisite example of a medicinal leech there is!" Junji sounded excited, like a kid on Christmas. Angus was less than thrilled to have the bloodsucker anywhere near him.

"I can tell it's a leech, dude! Why the fuck do you have it on you?"

"I use it as an example," he explained, "whenever people show an interest in my talent I feel obligated to give them a sort of...demonstration." Junji said, his tone almost malicious.

Angus spaced out, trying to think of his next move. This was a power play, and a pretty damn good one. Junji now had the upper hand by keeping him at an arm's length. He wanted Angus to be scared; to fear him. Angus gulped down the spit that'd been cumulating and did his best to ignore the churning feeling in his stomach has he pulled himself and the crate back into its original place. Junji raised his eyebrow in surprise.

 _Don't back down, Angus. You're no bitch._

Despite how difficult it was, Angus managed to put on a cocky smile.

"I don't know a lot about hirudotherapy. Why don't fill in some blanks for me?"

 **Junji** : Okay. Well, what do you want to know?

 **Angus** : Tell me whatever you want. What do you like about it?

 **Junji** : ...Very well. Ever since I was young I've had a fascination with blood.

 **Angus** : So, it's the blood itself that you're into?

 **Junji** : The fascination started at a young age. My sire was a hematologist who'd always hold me in her haven so as to not leave me alone.

 **Angus** : Your "sire"?

 **Junji** : My mother, as someone like you would say.

 **Angus** : Hematologist… That's a blood doctor, right?

 **Junji** : Precisely.

 **Angus** : Okay, now the pieces are coming together. So, you spent time around your mom, and that started this whole "blood is awesome" thing?

 **Junji** : That's a gross simplification, but yes. I suppose so.

 **Angus** : But is there anything else? Anything else that helped you get into it?

 **Junji** : Well, being kindred only makes the cravings worse…

 **Angus** : And "kindred" means…vampire?

 **Junji** : Right again, but there's more to it than just that.

 **Angus** : Seriously?

 **Junji** : Deadly serious. There's much more to it than just being just kindred.

 **Angus** : You sure about that? It feels relatively simple.

 **Junji** : I've a long and rich history, Angus. Ever since I was a mere fledgeling…

 **Angus** : Whatever you say, dude.

The conversation continued in a normal manner. Well, as normal as a conversation between the two could get. Junji put away the leech, much to Angus' relief. The arms dealer was surprised. Once he got past the weird vampire speech Junji was actually pretty okay for conversation. He was witty and sharp, plus he was able to lob barbs back at Angus as quickly as Angus had thrown them.

They were an hour or so into the conversation before Angus remembered his mission. He still needed to talk to Ludivine.

He got to his feet, stretching and cracking his back in the process.

"This has been quite the experience, Nosferatu, but I got stuff I need to do before the day's over." he joked before moving past Junji, but he stopped when he heard the other boy start chuckling.

"You know," he said, "it's kind of funny. I sit down to talk to you and try and get a better read on your personality, and all you do is continue to surprise me. You present yourself as nothing but a brute, but then you have no qualms with sitting down with me and chatting amicably- like we haven't only know each other for two days." He sighed. "Even after insulting you, you still took up my request and sat with me."

The room was silent before Junji spoke one more time, his voice barely audible.

"You confuse me, Angus."

The next sound was the warehouse doors opening and closing.

* * *

 **Junji's Profile Card: Entry #1**

Junji first found an interest in blood when he was a young boy and spent a lot of time with his hematologist mother. The vampire persona seems almost like a justification for his interests.

* * *

Angus stepped out of the warehouse and looked around the main hall. No one was there except for himself and Tatsuo near the back wall with Ryucchi. She was tossing a racquetball against the wall, sending her mastiff running back and forth. A little exercise never hurt a dog, especially one of Ryucchi's size. She turned around and locked eyes with Angus. He was prepared for a mean glare and braced himself.

And Tatsuo smirked at him and nodded in greeting.

Angus nodded back.

 _Okay. That's good. It's not exactly a rapport, but it's better than being at each other's throats._

Then he saw Megumi coming down the stairs. She might know where Ludivine is; help save him time on randomly searching for her. He ran up to her just as she reached the bottom of the steps.

"Hey Doc!" he called out, getting her attention. She gave him a guarded smile as a response.

"Oh, hello, Angus," she said, giving him a small wave, "how are you?".

"As good as I could be. Considering the circumstances."

Megumi giggled, "True. So, what did you need?"

"I'm looking for Ludivine."

Megumi's smile was quickly replaced by a concerned frown. "Angus," she started, worry evident in her voice, "please don't go picking a fight with Ludivine. I don't want to bandage or stitch you up again."

Angus wanted to be upset at Megumi for assuming that he'd immediately fight Ludivine as soon as he saw her, but he understood why she'd think that. His track record hadn't been great so far, but that's why he was doing this. He had to remember that. The moment he forgot that he'd revert back to how he'd been acting, and that'd get him nowhere.

"There isn't gonna be a fight, but I need to talk to her."

Megumi looked away in thought, before turning back to him with a sight. "I think she's upstairs somewhere. I'm not sure though." she said.

"Thanks." Angus tried to move past her, but she grabbed his arm. He looked at her, expecting a chewing out, but was surprised to see a kind smile on her face.

"What you did for Iroha was very nice, Angus." she said, looking up at him. Angus turned away, his ear red.

"I...don't know what you're talking about." he denied, causing Megumi to giggle again.

"Alright," she laughed, "you did nothing."

She let go of his arm and started walking to the hall that had her room, but not before turning around to look at him. He smile having not faltered.

"Keep doing "nothing", Angus. It's sweet." she said coyly before continuing on her way.

Leaving Angus a red mess at the bottom of the spiral stairs.

* * *

Angus wasn't sure where to check for Ludivine , so he decided to wing it and go to the game room.

The room was busy. Feliks was at one of the arcade cabinets, enraptured in whatever game he was playing, and Sophia and Joaquin were in the middle of a game of pool that was nearing its end. The look on Feliks' face said he wouldn't be much conversation right now, so he honed in on the game of billiards.

Joaquin noticed him first, "Angus, good to see you up and about."

Angus stuffed his hands into his pocket and looked away, "Yeah." he said quietly. He looked over the pool table to assess the damage. There was one solid to four stripes left on the table. Stripes was losing pretty bad, and the 8-ball was sitting directly in front of the left side pocket. The cue ball was sitting almost perfectly aligned with the 2-ball, which was a few inches away from one of the corner pockets. The game was on its last leg.

"Who's stripes?" He asked. Sophia released a dejected sigh as a response.

"That be me," she said, "Joaquin's been beating me the whole bloody game." she complained.

Joaquin chuckled and tossed aside the pool cue chalk he'd been using, "I'm also quite good at darts. I'll show you sometime." He winked at Angus, who could only respond by trying to bury himself in his shirt.

Joaquin laughed again and took aim at the 2-ball. With a loud clack he sunk the ball with no fanfare.

"By the way, Angus. I must say I'm surprised with you," he spoke, putting his cue back on the rack while Sophia studied the table.

"What? Didn't think I'd want to play a game of pool?" he said jokingly. Inside his head, however, he was screaming. He knew what he was probably bringing up, and was ready to refute and claims of him being good.

Though to his surprise, it was Sophia who answered him.

"You talked with Iroha," she told him, "told her to come talk with me."

Angus shrugged, "She said she was a fan of yours, so I told her "hey she's here, why don't you talk to her?" That's pretty much what I told her, verbatim."

Sophia put her hands on her hips in a prideful stance.

"We touched upon ALL my shows. " _Capricorn_ " is her favorite, and I can't help but agree with her. I'll always have a soft spot for my second ever Broadway show~" she said in an almost sing song tone.

"They were chatting for an entire hour," Joaquin chimed in, prepping to line up the cue ball with the 8-ball.

"That's not all we talked about," Sophia leaned against the wall, "we talked about art, her talent, our home live, I signed her an autograph. She's great conversation."

"8-ball in the side pocket." Joaquin exclaimed before sinking the 8-ball and finishing the game. Sophia pouted and fell to her knees, resting her arms on the table. "You destroyed me."

"You may be a skilled playwright, Sophia," Joaquin laughed, putting his cue back on the rack, "but a skilled pool player? Not so much."

"How'd you even get so at this," Sophia whined, trying to be as dramatic as possible. Joaquin grew silent and looked away in thought.

Angus had seen Joaquin as a relatively chipper person ever since he met him yesterday. This was a new face he hadn't seen on the socialite.

It looked like melancholy. There was a deep sadness in the boy's eyes.

And, almost as quickly as it appeared, it vanished. Replaced with Joaquin's usual warm smile.

"An old friend of mine helped me learn. He was better than I was."

Sophia got to her feet, "Well, maybe he'll be able to teach me when we get out of here."

Angus knitted his eyebrows in frustration. Seriously? Again with this "we'll all sing Kumbaya when we get out of here" mentality? Angus wanted to be hopeful, but how can so many people just...ignore their circumstances like they weren't possibly in danger? He couldn't be so optimistic.

And by the wary look on Joaquin's face, he may have an ally who agreed with him.

"Perhaps," Joaquin said offhandedly, hoping to change the subject, and that came in the form of Angus.

"Angus, mi amor," the socialite sauntered around the table and was apon Angus in a matter of seconds, "would you like to play a game of pool with me?"

 _Don't lose your cool, Gus. He wants a rise; don't give it to him._

Angus coughed into his first, his nervousness evident. Joaquin was leaning toward his face, causing Angus to take a step back.

"I'm not a very good pool player." he said quickly.

"That's fine. We could play something else." Another step forward, another step backwards.

"Pool's fine. We can play pool." Angus said, rushing over to the cue rack and snagging one. All Joaquin could do was chortle at the response.

"I'm only teasing you, Angus."

Sophia made an over the top gagging noise, "You two are gross! Get a room," she started walking over to Feliks, who was still enthralled with his game, "I'm gonna see what Feliks is doing."

The boys watch Sophia walk to the distracted Russian before turning back to each other. "I've never been one for video games, but I'll still play that game of pool if you're interested?"

Angus relaxed and gave the boy a cocky smile, "Alright, but I warn you, I'm very bad at pool."

It was true. After they set the game up again Joaquin learned just how bad Angus actually was. He scratched on his first four turns before he actually knocked the 12-ball into the corner pocket, but then scratched again. The game lasted only about a half hour before Joaquin sunk the 8-ball. He was worse than Sophia, and the socialite had no problem letting Angus know how poor his skills were. Angus knew it was a simple jest, but he couldn't help having his temper flare and getting red around the ears.

"Yep," Angus groaned, putting away his cue, "that went as bad as I expected it to."

"Oh, come now, Angus," Joaquin added, leaning over the table, "it wasn't that bad."

This was a lie, of course. Joaquin had destroyed him. Angus had only sunk two of his stripe balls before the 8-ball got put down.

"Yeah, whatever," Angus snapped, "take me on in a shooting competition and I'd have your ass."

"Oh, Angus," Joaquin crooned in an overly sweet voice, "you can have my ass whenever you want."

Queue the sound of Angus smashing his hip into the corner of the pool table after turning around too quickly. He keeled over in pain and dropped to one knee, holding onto the table for support. The other boy rushed over to help.

"Are you okay, Angus?" Joaquin helped the arms dealer stand up straight. Angus grumbled in response, holding onto his injured hip.

"Why the fuck are you like this," Angus seethed, "why do you say some of the shit you say?"

Joaquin moved away and went back to the other side of the table while Angus composed himself. The Spanish boy could only shrug his shoulders.

"I couldn't tell you why I'm so flirtatious," he spoke while setting the pool balls up in the rack, "I just am. I enjoy it."

"Well, I don't." Angus fumed, hands still on his hip.

Joaquin's face got serious, "I'll stop if you want me to. I like having a bit of fun, but if you're truly uncomfortable you have to tell me. We'll put an end to it right now if you'd like."

Angus opened his mouth to say something, but only drew a blank. He wanted to say "yes, please stop", but something inside him wouldn't let him.

Angus had always been a little confused about his sexuality. He knew that he liked girls, but his outlook on other boys was met with inner conflict. Not to mention his dad, and his town for that matter, didn't have a great outlook on gay people.

Did he like boys? Maybe. He thought he did, or at least was interested in them.

One thing was for certain, and that was the fact that there was a part of him that didn't hate Joaquin's flirting.

Angus spent a lot of time never getting any positive attention. The only times he ever got some assurance was when his dad needed him to feel good about himself. Even if Joaquin flirted with anyone, it still felt nice to have someone give him that attention. He thought enough of him to want to make those jokes. It made him feel...wanted.

"Well?" Joaquin said, a little impatient. Angus blinked. How long had he gone without answering?

 _Don't leave him hanging!_

"Whatever," he responded nonchalantly.

 _Really? That was your best answer? You fucking suck, dude..._

Joaquin's frown turned upside down in an instant, "That wasn't a no~" he sang.

Angus just internally sighed, but a smirk slowly formed on his face.

"I guess it wasn't." he said, looking Joaquin in the eye.

The socialite looked surprised for a moment before smiling even wider. It was less teasing and more genuine than before. He was happy Angus wasn't upset with him.

"Flirting is one thing," he said, "getting to actually know each other is another. Tell me something about yourself."

"What do you want to know?"

Joaquin put a finger to his chin in contemplation, "Any siblings?"

Angus shook his head, "Nope. You?"

 **Joaquin** : Four. All brothers, and all older.

 **Angus** : Jesus. That's a lot.

 **Joaquin** : From oldest to youngest it's Augustino, Jose, Rafael, Carlito and then myself.

 **Angus** : What's it like being the youngest?

 **Joaquin** : It can be a little hectic. Agustino is a lot older than the rest of us, and even though Carlito is closest to me in age, he's still three years older than me.

 **Angus** : What're they like?

 **Joaquin** : They're great! If not rambunctious. Rafael I think could be placed in bedlam at sometimes.

 **Angus** : That's a little harsh, isn't it?

 **Joaquin** : You wouldn't be saying that if you met him.

 **Angus** : You have any stories?

 **Joaquin** : A few. There was one time when we were younger. He was seventeen and I was eleven.

 **Angus** : How old were your other siblings?

 **Joaquin** : Augustino was twenty-seven, Jose was twenty-one, and Carlito was fourteen.

 **Angus** : Those ages are all over the place…

 **Joaquin** : They are, but where was I?

 **Angus** : Rafael?

 **Joaquin** : Right! Now it was his seventeenth birthday and he wanted to celebrate, so he went to a seedy bar in a bad part of LA. Somewhere our parents wouldn't look for him.

 **Angus** : How'd they let him in if he was only seventeen?

 **Joaquin** : He looked older for his age, so they didn't even think to card him. To make a long story short he got extremely drunk and ended up getting in a pretty bad bar fight.

 **Angus** : Damn, that's rough.

 **Joaquin** : You've no idea. He still has a hard time seeing out of his left eye.

Angus cringed at the thought of what could've happened at that bar that night. There's a lot of ways for an eye to get injured at a bar, and none of them were pretty. The boys kept talking about the antics of Joaquin's older siblings. The time his oldest brother, Augustino, came home from college and him and Carlito decided to prank him by wrapping everything in his old room in aluminum foil, or the time Jose took his drivers test while high and almost caused a ten car pileup. The stories ranged from hilarious to morbid, and they seemed endless. Anecdote after anecdote about the Hidalgo family and their adventures. Angus couldn't help but smile at Joaquin's infectious smile and storytelling style.

After recovering from a particularly violent laughing fit, Joaquin wiped a tear from his eye and straightened out his back, "Okay, I...I need to rest a little," he said, leaning against the pool table.

"Yeah," Angus was still chuckling slightly, still remembering a particularly funny detail of the last story, "not a bad idea, but I still got stuff I gotta get done before the day's out."

 _Still have to kick the shit out of Ludivine...with my good deeds. Kick the shit out of her perception of me… That sounds right._

Joaquin pressed the wrinkles out of his shirt with his hands and dusted off his pants. "Fair enough," he conceded.

"Thank you for taking the time to talk with me, Angus," he put his hand on the other boys shoulder and smiled, a sincereness in his eyes, "it was uplifting to have normal conversation, especially with you."

Angus looked up to the sky, suddenly very interested in the fluorescent lights above him.

"Yep. That's me; Mr. Normal Conversation," he said sarcastically.

Angus wasn't looking, but he could hear Joaquin's laugh, and that just made his blush more.

"Thank you, Angus. I'll see you around."

That was the last thing Joaquin said before heading to the door. He didn't hear Angus mutter under his breath.

"I'll see you."

* * *

 **Joaquin's Profile Card: Entry #1**

Joaquin comes from a big family with four older brothers. The home was hectic and the boys got into trouble often. Pulling pranks on each other to just poor decision making. At a time one of the brothers, Rafael, got into a bar fight and had lasting damage done to his face.

* * *

Angus looked over to see Feliks and Sophia leaning over the arcade cabinet, and his curiosity got the better of him. He walked over and read the name on the cabinet.

" _World of Rage"? Never heard of it._

Angus peered over the two and looked at the screen. A man in a red cap was beating up two men on a street corner. Angus didn't really get video games, but maybe that's because he didn't grow up with them. He sort of missed that boat and by the time he was old enough to buy his own possessions he had no interest in them.

"You winning, Feliks?" Angus asked, trying to keep his eyes on the games action.

"Tikhiy. YA blizok k tomu, chtoby polozhit' etomu konets." Feliks whispered under his breath, his eyes unblinking, never leaving the screen.

"Oh," Angus took a step back at the hackers harsh tone, "sorry to hear that." He had no real clue as to what he'd said.

"He's so focused," Sophia murmured, also keeping her eyes on the game, "I haven't seen him look away yet."

She wasn't exaggerating. His intensity was palpable; you could feel it a room over. Angus backed up and stepped to the side, observing the outside of the cabinet. It was fire engine red with deep blue flame designs near the bottom, but one part of it was off. The bottom corner of the left hand side looked different. Angus kneeled down to get a closer look. The paint was chipped off and the natural grey color of the cabinet was showing through. Not only that, but there was a pattern carved into it. A small string of arrows followed by the word start.

"Hey guy?" Angus called in a fruitless attempt to get their attention. What he got in response was loud bit crushed crashing sound followed by a triumphant sounding song.

"YES!" Feliks yelled, throwing his hands up, "It is over! Best time yet!"

"What's that?" Sophia asked, turning to Angus.

"I think there's like a secret cheat or something." he said looking back at the code.

"Cheat?" Feliks parroted, coming down from his victory high. "What is it? I'll put it in and see what it gives us."

"Alright," Angus agreed, and started speaking the code aloud.

"Up, left, up, left, down, left, right, down, start."

With every word that left his mouth Feliks made a move on the joystick, and it ended with a swift press of the start button.

The screen screen got fuzzy before shutting off completely; going dark.

"Did it do anything?" Angus questioned, standing up next to the other two Ultimates.

"It just shut it off." Sophia said. Feliks crossed his arms in anger. "It better not have deleted my score."

A minute passed of the three staring dumbly at the cabinet before it started to rumble and shake. The three stepped back as the machinery underneath it hissed and steam poured from its sides. It slowly moved to the right, pushing the other arcade cabinet next to it. It moved to reveal a square hole, like a trap door without the door.

Angus was the first to step forward and look down the hole. He saw a metal shelf with bagged food and cans. They lined the walls of the small room beneath him. Feliks and Sophia stepped over to take a look, and Feliks recognized it immediately.

"We are above the kitchen pantry."

"But why though?" asked a confused Angus, backing away from the hole. "What the fuck is the point. Why would this ever be here?"

"Maybe just a little secret for us to find?" Sophia also backed away. Feliks was the only one who was still staring down the hole into the pantry. Angus scoffed, "Oh, yeah. Fucking awesome secret. Real cool."

"You asked." Sophia indignantly answered.

Feliks stood up straight and walked to the arcade cabinet and put the same code in. A moment passed before the same mechanical hissing started up again and the machine moved back into its proper place.

"Well," Feliks dismissively said while sticking his hands into his hoodie pockets, "now we know about that."

"Glad to see you're relaxed." Angus muttered under his breath.

He looked back at the cabinet, which was now sitting perfectly normal. He felt like he should do something, say ANYTHING, but he wasn't sure how to respond. Why would this even be here? There was no point to it. All Angus knew was it made him nervous.

A loud piercing noise came from the speaker system. "Attention, reprobate!" Saibakuma's shrill voice rang through the building and burrowed into Angus' ears.

"Please report to the courtroom immediately! Attendance is mandatory! I've got quite the surprise for you heathens!"

The speaker system clicked off and Angus felt like he could pull his hair out. Somehow, against all odds, he'd actually been having an okay day. It started off rocky, but he made it better through action as opposed to wallowing.

"Better not keep the medved' waiting." Feliks pulled his cap down slightly and moved to the door, Sophia behind him.

Angus followed suit, woefully unprepared for what was to come next.

* * *

 **Miss me? Took me long enough. Things are about to get a lot more rough for Angus and everyone, as I'm sure ya'll have an idea of what's coming next. :)**

 **I'm in a pretty good mental place right now, and I'm hoping to take advantage of that and write a little quicker. I don't know how long it'll last, but I'm gonna use it! Hope you guys enjoyed the FTE's and more of Good Guy Angus. Make sure you guys leave a review if you want. Those are a big help in motivating me to write these chapters. Seeing people interested helps me stay interested. That's all I have to say.**

 **Until next time.**


	9. Chapter 1-4

The walk to the courtroom was a quiet one. What was there to say? Feliks had kept his eyes at his feet and Sophia nervously wrung her hands together. Angus sighed as he ran his hands through his hair as the trio approached the courtroom doors.

He stopped, one hand on the door. His breath hitched, suddenly extremely nervous to enter the room. It felt like he was the only person out of the sixteen trapped that had been taking Saibakuma's threats seriously. Shimei and Beatrix had pretty much laughed them off, and everyone else he had talked to just brushed them off.

Feliks put hand on the boys' shoulders. "We are right here. We go in together."

Angus turned to look at him. The ball cap hid his face slightly, but by how tightly clenched his jaw was, Angus could see that he was nervous too. He looked at Sophia. Her face showed that she was scared, and yet she nodded, waiting for Angus to open the door.

He did just that, pushing the double doors open and moving into the courtroom with his two cohorts. Saibakuma wasn't there, but Guardkumas were. Guardkuma #1 had taken its spot in the jury box and Guardkuma #4 was standing by the judges stand.

Angus scanned the benches in the courtroom. He saw Megumi and Iroha talking quietly in the first row. Spotting her friends, Sophia moved past the boys she'd walked in with to sit with the two girls. Ritsu was sitting by herself in the second row, and Shimei and Manato were sitting together and chatting. Gallus was nowhere to be seen, so Angus just assumed the chicken wasn't aloud in the courtroom. The only other person was Negenama who was standing by the wall with his arms crossed.

 _At least sit down, you dick…_

Feliks patted Angus on the back and walked past him, going and sitting with Shimei and Manato. Angus swallowed his anxiety and sat at the edge of the fifth row. There were only six rows so it wasn't a big courtroom and Angus wanted to sit near the back so he could be close to the door in case he needed to run for it.

The doors opened and he watched Ramsey and Tatsuo walk into the courtroom together. Tatsuo, despite not having her canine companion by her side, didn't look worried about whatever Saibakuma was going to tell them. The same couldn't be said about Ramsey, who was sweating bullets under his hat. His cane clacked against the tiles as the two sat down next to each other in the third row.

On the list of people Angus didn't trust, those two ranked pretty high. He'd be the first to admit that his opinion of Tatsuo may've been a little biased, but could you blame him? The first time they met he was bitten by her dog. At least they weren't fighting now.

Ramsey had a different, more complicated answer. The lounge singer had done nothing to earn Angus' suspicion, but something about the boy made his gut feel weird. Maybe it was the way he talked, or maybe his skittishness? Angus shook his head, watching the doors open again to see Junji enter the courtroom. The two locked eyes and Junji smiled at him, nodding.

Oh boy. What could he say about Junji? Their conversation had been eye opening. Getting to know a little more about the "vampire" had helped Angus mellow to him.

Joaquin and Beatrix came next. They both noticed Angus at the same time and started walking over to him. Without saying a word, Beatrix scooched Angus over and sat on his right while Joaquin sat on his left.

"Hello, Angus!" Beatrix happily exclaimed, being louder than she needed to be. I mean he was right next to her.

Guardkuma #1 aggressively chirped in their direction. Beatrix flinched, "Sorry." she said, this time using an indoor voice. With the troublemaker silenced, Guardkuma #1 went back to its docile state.

"Beatriz, mi amiga," Joaquin said in a hushed tone, "there's no point in angering are captors." he half joked. The other half that wasn't a joke was afraid of what would happen if the pterodactyl got any angrier.

"Also, don't fuckin' yell in my ear." Angus grumbled, but then blushed when both Ultimates giggled at him.

"What have you been doing, Angus?" Beatrix asked out of the blue.

"What do you mean?"

"It has been a few hours since we last spoke. What did you do today?"

"He spent it with me," Joaquin hummed, snaking his arms around Angus' midriff and putting his chin on his shoulder, "we spent almost _all_ day together. Didn't we, Angus?"

Angus sputtered, choking on his spit. He pulled Joaquin's arms off of him and shoved him away. His face was as red as a beet, but he was given no respite as Beatrix hugged his arm and looked at him; stars in her eyes.

"That is great, Angus!" She whisper-yelled. "We should all spend the day together next time."

Angus yanked his arm free from her grasp. Joaquin and Beatrix could almost feel the heat emanating off of him.

"Fist off," Angus pointed at Joaquin, "we DID NOT spend all day together. And second," he whipped around and pointed at Beatrix, "I wouldn't be caught dead hanging out with you losers under any other circumstance than the one we're in right now."

Instead of getting angry with him and leaving, his companions just continued to chuckle at the boys grouchiness. Joaquin and Beatrix continued to talk with Angus, much to his chagrin. The room was filled with hushed conversation throughout, that is, until a voice was heard.

"Everyone has finally arrived," Saibakuma's piercing voice called out, "now we can officially begin!"

 _What? But some people still aren't here._

He turned around to look at the door and see that he was wrong.

Ludivine Dupont had entered the courtroom.

...And Chaos was by her side, holding her hand like a child.

She walked past his row and looked at him. His eyes narrowed and he sneered at her, but her only response was a small smirk as she and Chaos sat in the row in front of him. Even just looking at the back of her head was causing Angus a headache.

Saibakuma's voice had caused all of the Ultimates to get quiet, looking around the room for the bear.

He popped up from behind the judge's stand, taking his usual spot in front of his prisoners.

"It's good to see you all again, dipsticks!" he shouted, pulling out his giant gavel and sitting it next to him.

Angus couldn't help but flinch at the sight of the gavel. The idea of the bear having anything big and dangerous was enough to get him antsy.

Surprisingly it was Megumi who spoke first.

"Why'd you call us here?" She said, trying to keep her voice even.

Megumi's question had helped others find their courage, because Iroha spoke next.

"Yeah," she crossed her arms, "I doubt you called us here to repeat yourself, so what is it?"

Saibakuma growled, prepped to chew out the imprudent children, but Junji was quicker.

"Whatever it is matters not," he boasted, readjusting his scarf, "his words have no effect on a vampire of my prowess. "

"I'm going to have to agree," Feliks tipped his baseball cap over his eyes and leaned back in his seat, "not about the vampire part, but about his words having no effect."

"Yeah!" Tatsuo yelled, standing up. "Fuck off!" Poor Ramsey wasn't ready for her outburst, but despite his shock, he too started speaking up.

Saibakuma looked around the room at all the Ultimates as, what had stated as hushed murmurs, rose to an uproar. Megumi's little question had spiraled into a group of prisoners fed up with their captor. The hysterics got Guardkuma #1 excited, it started screeching and flapping its wings. The wood of the jury box creaked from the monsters weight.

The loud quailing didn't stop everyone from creating a ruckus. Chaos was jumping up and down in happiness; enjoying the discord. Negenama was saying something, but it was difficult to hear him over Tatsuo's shouting and Junji's obnoxious bragging.

Saibakuma's usually malicious grin had turned into an angry sneer. With little effort he lifted his gavel and started slamming it.

"ORDER IN THE COURT!" he shouted. The loudness of the gavel quickly silenced the courtroom. Everyone was too focused on covering their ears to continue shouting. Guardkuma #1 even stopped screeching.

When the bear eventually stopped you could hear a pin drop.

"Okay," huffed an out of breath Saibakuma, "are we ready to listen?"

He took their silence as a yes.

"Good," he said, his smile returning, "now it has come to my attention that this killing game isn't progressing as fast as I would've hoped."

"Are you being serious?" Ritsu questioned.

"Clearly our host doesn't have a concept of patience," Ludivine said, finally speaking. Angus frowned. Just hearing her voice was enough to annoy him.

"Are you implying that we would've started killing each other to begin with?" Ramsey asked nervously.

"It's naive to assume we wouldn't," Negenama said, still leaning against the wall.

Angus' frown deepened. He was annoying too. Him and Ludivine should hang out.

Saibakuma growled, "I have a very strict schedule that I need to stick to, and you guys seem VERY keen on making my life harder than it has to be!"

"Oh yes," Joaquin said, rolling his eyes, "I'm deeply sorry we've inconvenienced you, señor. Is there anything we could do to rectify our mistakes?" his voice was dripping with sarcasm. Angus and Beatrix couldn't stop themselves from laughing, but the rest of the room had also found his comment humorous. Chaos was cackling like a maniac, and some of the more quiet people, like Megumi and Manato, were quietly giggling. Even Negenama and Ritsu had cracked small smiles.

But the loudest laugh in the room, surprisingly enough, was coming from Saibakuma.

"That's quite a joke, Mr. Hidalgo," the bear was shaking with laughter, "I'm sure Marcus Torres would find the joke just as humorous."

That made everyone get quiet. Marcus Torres? That was a new name. Angus turned to Joaquin. He definitely wasn't laughing anymore.

His face was pale; almost sickly. He looked like he'd seen a ghost.

Saibakuma's smile widened, but his voice was void of humor.

"Are you finally understanding the position you're in?" He asked, deadly serious. "You're all here to pay for your crimes. Law is sacred, and you stomped on it like it didn't exist to begin with! You may have society fooled; pretending to be better than you are, but I know what you've all done! I know what you're capable of!" He'd gone from coposed to screaming.

"T-there has to b-be another option," Manato quivered. The boy was shaking like a leaf. Feliks had a grip on his shoulder in an attempt to try and calm him, but the cock fighter was inconsolable, "what about prison?"

Negenama quirked an eyebrow in interest, "Is this an admission of guilt?" He asked.

Feliks turned to the boy in anger. "Zatknis', sliz'!" He shouted in Russian.

"Yeah," Tatsuo shouted at the private tutor, "what he said! Besides, you have no right being so smug. You're in here too, remember?"

Negenama chuckled, "Speak for yourself. I have nothing to panic over. My conscience, and record, are clean."

Saibakuma started giggling again, "That's fine, Mr. Yori. You don't need to admit it. What's important is that I know what you've done. What you've ALL done."

He started sulking, "However, I seem to have overestimated your will to kill, so I'm here to provide some incentive to get the ball rolling!"

"That being?" Ludivine asked. Angus was staring daggers at the back of her head. He could hear the smile in her voice. She didn't care that this was happening. She didn't care Joaquin was upset; that Manato was upset. It didn't matter to her, it seemed.

"I'm glad you asked, Ms. Dupont," Saibakuma cheered, "I'll put it simply. If you slay one of your fellow criminals, AND get away with it, you can consider your record completely EXPUNGED!"

A hush fell over the room as the bears words settled in. Angus leaned back, staring up at the ceiling. Did he really have that power? Nobody would take it, would they?

He looked to Beatrix. The girl seemed so confused. She looked at the arms dealer with worry in her eyes. He felt bad for her. She couldn't even remember her Ultimate Talent, but she was still being forced into this deprived environment. What if the crime she apparently committed had something to do with her talent? Would she even remember it?

He heard Chaos whisper something into Ludivine's ear. He couldn't tell what he said, but whatever it was made her smile. Angus clenched his fists, digging his fingernails into his palms.

 _They want to giggle about this? Fuck them! Fuck both of them!_

"That's right!" the bear yelled, "You will be completely free of your wrongdoings! It'll be as if they never happened, which is what I'm sure you all want. Your reputation as Ultimates will be safe and untarnished, and all it will cost is the life of a stranger! Upupupupupu~" Saibakuma finished, unable to contain his maniacal laughter.

Only one person was able to find their voice.

"FUCK OFF!" Tatsuo burst out, slamming her fists down onto the seat in front of her. Ramsey moved away from her, jarred by the sudden display of anger. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS!"

"I can do whatever I want!" Saibakuma bristled, hopping up and down in anger.

Tatsuo sucked in a deep breath, preparing to scream again, but another voice stopped her.

"What's the point of this?" Iroha said, piping up, "Why are you doing this at all?"

The bear just continued to laugh before going quiet.

"Because you deserve it…"

Everyone was silent. The only noise was Tatsuo scraping her nails on the bench in fury. Saibakuma clapped his hands together.

"Whelp!" the bear shrugged, picking up his gavel. "If there's no more objections," he slammed it down with a thud, "court is officially adjourned!"

Saibakuma than leapt back, disappearing behind the judges stand, leaving the Ultimates in noiseless contemplation.

Angus looked at the others in the room. Negenama, Ritsu and Ludivine were already on their way out, and all the others had begun coming to their senses and getting up.

Chaos bounded off, no worry in the slightest, and the trio of Megumi, Iroha and Sophia were all getting up.

Angus watched Beatrix stand up too but didn't follow her. He turned to Joaquin to make sure he was okay.

The socialite looked ready to vomit. He was sweating so bad that small droplets were cascading down his face and dripping off his chin.

Then again, there was a good chance they could be tears.

"Joaquin?" Angus whispered, reaching for his friend. As soon as his had made contact with Joaquin's shoulder the boy violently pulled away. He turned to Angus, a look of abject fear on his face. He was clutching his medallion tightly to his chest; his breath quick and shallow.

"You...you alright?"

 _Great question, dumbass…_

Joaquin closed his eyes and took in a long deep breath. He stood up and looked down at Angus apologetically.

"I'm fine, Angus," he said, his hands slipping from his medallion to his pockets, "I'm just tired. I'll be seeing you."

With that, he walked past the arms dealer and out of the courtroom. Angus stood up, but was stopped by a loud school bell chiming through the intercom.

" **Attention, scoundrels! It is now 10pm, meaning it is officially Night Time! Certain rooms in the building will be locked, and will not be unlocked until 9am tomorrow. With that said! Goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!"**

The intercom clicked off, leaving Angus with his thoughts. He didn't want to go back to his room just yet, but he also had no clue what to do with himself. He wasn't sure what rooms were and weren't locked.

He was about to leave, but the sound of talking stopped him. He turned to see Manato and Shimei hadn't left yet.

He walked up to the duo, but the two didn't turn to him. Shimei was patting Manato on the back and quietly talking to him. Manato was looking down at his feet, his eyes hidden by his hair. Despite his hair hiding most of his face, tear streaks were evident on his cheeks. Angus, not keen on leaving without at least attempting to help, sat down next to them.

"Hey," he said softly, "you doing alright?" Manato sat up straight and took in a deep breath. "I don't know," he shakily said, "I d-don't think I am."

"Poor Manato's just shaken up a little." Despite her words suggesting otherwise, Shimei didn't look much better. While not in hysterics, she was certainly shaken by Saibakuma's announcement.

"Well, don't feel bad about that," Angus wasn't sure what to do, so he decided to just put a comforting hand on the other boys shoulder. Him and Manato didn't really have a relationship to speak of. They never had a chance to talk, and when Angus approached him and Beatrix he ran off. Beatrix had said he was afraid of him. He wasn't scary. Aggressive, maybe, but not scary. "I think we're all a little...worried."

Manato wiped his eyes and looked at Angus. "Do we deserve this?" he asked out of the blue, startling both Angus and Shimei. Angus, for the first time since meeting him, saw Manato's eyes. They were a soft pink and moist with tears. Angus felt his mouth dry up as his eyes stared into his soul. They were just as intense as Iroha's, but for completely different reasons. While Iroha's look was piercing in a way that made you feel like you did something wrong, Manato's was honest; more innocent. Almost like it saw right through you.

Angus did his best to ignore the pit in his stomach, "I'm...not sure what you mean." he said. He felt like he was walking on eggshells.

"Saibakuma thinks we're these terrible people, but that can't be true right?" he asked, his voice wavering. "We don't deserve this. No one deserves this." He muttered. Shimei wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight, but Angus just rubbed his arm in discomfort.

"Of course we don't!" Shimei cried out, tightening her grip on the boy. "This is just a really bad joke!"

She didn't sound as confident as she did earlier in the day. Her confident bravado had given way to shifty eyes and a hesitant smile. It was nice of her to try and comfort Manato, but even she didn't seem to fully believe what she was saying.

"You're asking some pretty complicated questions, dude," Angus shrugged, "but nobody deserves to be locked up like animals. That I can guarantee. Sure, maybe you did something wrong. So what? Everyone does shit wrong. People do shit that they regret or feel bad about. People are complicated and do contrary stuff all the time, but if you're asking me if I think you're a bad person? I would say no."

"How can you be so sure?" Manato answered immediately. Angus could only shrug again. "I couldn't tell you. Maybe it's because you're remorseful. How terrible can you be if you want to improve?"

Manato looked down at his hand, rubbing them anxiously. "Maybe it's that I'm more afraid of the punishment then I am remorseful for the crime." he said quietly.

"I think you're too in your own head." Angus crossed his arms, not worrying about tact. Both Manato and Shimei were staring at the boy in shock. He elaborated, "You're too hard on yourself. It's like you're trying to convince yourself that you're a bad person. Why you're doing that I have no clue." Angus shook his head. Manato was shocked, but turned away in deep thought. Shimei raised her eyebrow in a "what the hell are you thinking?" look, but Angus just kept his eye on Manato.

"I know what it's like to be your own worst enemy," Angus continued, putting his hand on the boys arm, "but constantly shitting on yourself for your past mistakes is only going to bring you down more. It's important to keep moving, you know?"

 _ **You should practice what you preach, hypocrite…**_

 _He needs to hear something to feel better._

 _ **The advice is coming from a liar…**_

Manato hadn't looked up since Angus started talking. All he could do was stare down at his hand while picking at the dead skin on his thumb. He eventually looked up, a small smile on his face.

"Thank you, Angus. I think I needed to hear that."

 _ **You're a liar…**_

"Anytime, dude."

Anything else Angus was going to say was silenced by Shimei pulling both him and Manato into a tight group hug. Angus would swear on his life that she would have broken his spine had Manato not acted like a barrier.

"That was so sweet, Angus." she cooed.

Angus, despite Shimei's best efforts, managed to weasel his way out of her grasp.

"Yeah, whatever you say, small fry." he stood up and dusted himself off. "I'm going to bed. You guys coming?"

"I'll be out in a minute," Manato said, the small smile not leaving his face, "I'm still trying to collect my thoughts."

"I'll stick with ya, Manato!" Shimei cheered, resting her chin on Manato's head.

Angus just chuckled, "Goodnight, you two."

With quiet goodbyes exchanged, Angus exited the courtroom, ready to put the stressful day behind him.

* * *

As soon as he stepped out Angus was greeted by Gallus Ondori, looking very upset. He paused, looking down at the chicken. He was unmoving, staring down Angus like looking away from him meant he'd disappear. The boy felt foolish, being intimidated by such a small animal, but there was something about Gallus that put him on edge.

Angus just reopened the courtroom door and stepped aside, "He's in there if you want to see him." he got down on one knee to get closer to the poultry, "I think he could really use your company right now." A moment passed before Gallus walked past him and into the courtroom. Angus shut the door, a look of complete bewilderment on his face.

 _Was I...talking to a chicken? Did I hold a door for a chicken?_

"How gentlemanly of you, Angus. It suits you." A voice spoke up from his right. He turned around only to come face to face with the one and only Ludivine Dupont. "You didn't seem like the type to hold doors."

Angus clenched his fists. The moment he'd been both anticipating and dreading had finally arrived. She wanted to take pot shots? He had to show he can shoot right back at her.

"Never seen manners before, Ludivine? Doesn't surprise me." he said snidely, a smug smile on his face.

Ludivine giggled, "Don't get too big a head, Angus. You held the door for a chicken. You've a ways to go before you're granted knighthood."

Angus dragged his foot against the tiled floor, causing a loud squeak. Ludivine cringed, and Angus smirked at her discomfort. It was the little things.

"I wouldn't be too sure," Angus stuffed his hands into his pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels, "I've been told I can be pretty nice."

Ludivine, recovering from the noise, giggled again, "Yes, I've heard about your exploits in friendship," within a matter of seconds, her smile turned serious, "and I have to say I'm not very impressed."

Angus' eyes widened in surprise, "The hell do you mean you aren't impressed? I'm not trying to impress you!" he said, his voice rising.

Ludivine stepped forward, causing Angus to take a step back. "Are you sure that's right? It seems that you only started trying to act differently after I called you out on your behavior."

 _That's complete bullshit! I don't care what she thinks of me._

 _ **"I'll go and find her and tell her what I did. Then she'll HAVE to take back what she said about me!"**_

Angus was broken from his thoughts by a sudden cold feeling on his back. He hadn't noticed it, but he'd been backing away from the approaching Ludivine. He now had his back against the wall as the behavioral psychologist stood a breath away from him.

"Back o-off," he stuttered, trying not to sound nervous, "I'm warning y-you."

 _I don't give a shit. I don't care what she says!_

 _ **You aren't good. You can't be good unless you're getting back at someone. You don't care about anyone here. You only care about her because you hate her!**_

"I'm not going to hurt you, Angus." she said, very much in Angus' personal bubble. It was only now that he realized the noticeable height difference between the two of them. She had four inches on him, which may not feel like a lot, but when a person who's taller than you has you backed against the wall? It was a little more intimidating.

"I just want to learn more about you." she smiled. The look in her eyes appeared to be genuine, and that only helped to scare Angus more. Angus, despite the extreme panic he was feeling, let out an angry grumble under his breath. Ludivine tilted her head in curiosity.

"What was that?" she asked, moving in just a little closer. This final breach of personal space was the last straw for Angus. Without warning, he lifted his arms up and shoved her away. She stumbled back a few steps before tripping over her own feet and landing on her back.

"I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!" he screamed, looming over the fallen girl. For the first time since they met, Angus and Ludivine's roles were reversed. Angus was the controlling one and Ludivine was left in complete shock and confusion.

"YOU DON'T FUCKING KNOW ME! Stop acting like you do! Stop trying to get in my head!" Angus grabbed at the sides of his head for emphasis and yanked on his hair. "We get fucking trapped here and told to kill each other and the best thing you can do with your time is fuck with me? FUCK YOU!" he continued to shout, threatening to wake up everyone in the building.

"It was never just about "getting into your head", Angus," Ludivne sighed, almost sounding disappointed with the boys outburst, "do you honestly believe that that was my intention?"

"Well, that's how you're acting! If you aren't fucking with me then what's your problem?" Angus asked while Ludivine got to her feet.

"I'll admit that I let my teasing get out of hand," she said, "it shouldn't have gone as far as it did, and I'm sorry for that."

Angus' jaw almost hit the floor.

 _Did she just...apologize? To me?_

"I'm sorry. What was that?" Angus questioned, not positive he'd heard her correctly.

Ludivine sighed again, "I said I'm sorry, Angus. My prying was originally just meant to help me try and get to know you a little better, but it became too much too quickly."

"Yeah, no shit."

"Let me finish," she said with a hand up, "I have a bad habit of becoming...obsessive over small things."

"Where's this going?"

"Patience, Angus," Ludivine put a finger up to the boys mouth that he was quick to swat away, "I saw how easy it was to get a rise out of you and I simply got carried away."

"So let me make sure I'm understanding this right," Angus said, massaging his temples, "you've been a complete and utter dick because you wanted to get to know me, but thought picking on me was more fun?" he asked, his tone incredulous.

Ludivine sighed for the third time, "While that is a gross oversimplification of my intentions. Yes. I suppose you could say that's what happened, and I apologize."

There are moments in time that arise that require a snap judgement call. It wasn't the first one Angus had to make since waking up here, and he wasn't too proud of the last snap decision he had to make. It could've gotten Joaquin and Feliks killed. Not this time. Don't think with your emotions. Actions have consequences.

"Alright," Angus crossed his arms, a small smile on his face, "apology accepted."

Ludivine hadn't been expecting that, Angus' left her speechless. She narrowed her eyes at the boy, searching for any kind of dishonesty.

Angus didn't like Ludivine. He was sure of that, but Beatrix had been right. Yelling and shouting and causing fights wouldn't help anyone. He didn't need to like Ludivine, but being angry and hateful would only make things worse.

"I..," Ludivine stuttered, "thank you."

"You okay?" Angus asked knowingly.

"Yes. I'm just surprised, I guess. I thought you'd be more upset."

He crossed his arms, "Well, maybe you misjudged me."

She looked down at her feet in thought before looking at him with a smile. Not the smug grin she'd been wearing since they first met, but a genuine smile. "Perhaps I did. I believe it'd be best we start over." She stuck her hand out, expecting Angus to take it, "My name is Ludivine Dupont, and it's nice to meet you."

He happily accepted, "Angus. Hope we can work well together."

 **Ludivine:** Okay, that's a good start. What next?

 **Angus:** Uhm...why don't you tell me something about yourself?

 **Ludivine** : Well, I grew up in a small city in Canada. Quebec to be more specific.

 **Angus** : And that's one of the states, right?

 **Ludivine** : They're called provinces.

 **Angus** : Ah! Gotcha.

 **Ludivine** : Anyway, even while growing up I always had an interest in the behavior of others.

 **Angus** : What do you mean?

 **Ludivine** : My family has always owned a lot of pets. Cats and dogs and the like. I spent a lot of time analyzing them and learning they're behavioral patterns.

 **Angus** : Well, not for nothing, but animals are a whole lot different from people.

 **Ludivine** : I'm aware.

 **Angus** : So, how does one go from an animal handler to a master of the psyche?

 **Ludivine** : Keeping at it. I went from studying my pet golden retriever to studying my mother and father.

 **Angus** : And that actually worked?

 **Ludivine** : Not at first. People are much more complicated than dogs, but it turned out I had a natural talent for it.

 **Angus** : Isn't that kind of dehumanizing? Studying your parents like lab rats?

 **Ludivine** : That's not how I saw it. To me it was me just trying to learn more about my parents.

 **Angus** : I guess that makes sense…

 **Ludivine** : I'm also a very good dog trainer.

 **Angus** : That doesn't surprise me. I'll keep that in mind if I ever actually get a dog.

Angus was surprised, but conversation with Ludivine was actually pretty engaging. At least when she wasn't actively attempting to get under his skin. They talked about her many pets and her parents. Angus was forced to listen as she talked about her cats and dogs. He couldn't really add anything because he'd never owned a cat or dog before. The only pet he'd ever had was a leopard gecko named Mitzi, and that was back when he was seven or eight. His dad was allergic to dogs and hated cats so he never had the pleasure of raising one. Ludivine was so detailed with her recollections of her pets that he might as well have been there when it happened. It felt good, and it shocked him that it was her of all the people that made him feel so comfortable.

They talked for what felt like an hour before Ludivine looked up at the clock on the wall. "Is it that late already?" she said, eyes wide.

Angus turned around and nodded his head at the offending timepiece. "Time flies when you're in good company." he shrugged.

Once again, Ludivine was left surprised by Angus' civility, but she smiled nonetheless. "This has been enlightening, Angus. I've quite enjoyed our talk."

Angus folded his arms, "Weirdly enough I feel the same. To think I planned to start off this interaction with me screaming at you and telling you off."

Ludivine chuckled, "You pretty much did do that, Angus. You pushed me to the floor, and you most certainly did scream at me."

Angus anxiously tugged at his hair, "Yep. Yeah, I did do that. Can we not talk about that, please?", he said, almost pleading. Ludivine kept chuckling as she patted him on the shoulder and walked passed him towards the door that lead to her room. She turned back to look at him one last time, her coy smile never leaving her face.

"Until our next talk, mon amie."

* * *

 **Ludivine's Profile Card: Entry #1**

Ludivine had always had a great interest in the behaviors of others. She kept a keen eye on her numerous pets and learned what made them tick. It helped her become a better pet owner. She eventually upgraded to studying her parents, and things only snowballed from there.

* * *

Angus was now completely alone in the main hall. He wanted to go to bed but he knew that as soon as he laid down his head would be filled with every worst case scenario possible. Talking to the people around him had made for a good distraction, but now he was alone. Alone with his thoughts.

He looked up at the Lady Justice statue. Angus had to hand it to whoever was doing this to them. They were efficient. After the destruction of the statue and Guardkuma #3 it had only taken a few hours to replace both with perfect replicas. These people were coordinated and well funded, and there was no way only one person could do all this by themselves.

Angus just stared at the looming statue. He looked where her eyes would be, but they were covered by what was supposed to be some kind of cloth. Angus was never one for symbolism He figured the cloth over the eyes was supposed to mean something, but deciphering it would require some kind of critical thought. No thank you. Angus looked a little closer at the scale she was holding in her outstretched hand and saw that it wasn't properly balanced. The platform on the left side of the scale was slightly lower down than the one on the right. Weird. The stature was supposed to represent balance, right? Or fairness? Something along those lines. Maybe they just made it wrong.

Angus looked down at his bandaged arm to see a slight amount of blood seeping through the gauze layers. He closed his eyes and it brought him back to yesterday, and all the horrors that came with it. Angus felt the dull ache from his injured shoulder and remembered that just a few minutes ago he'd been talking to the person who'd damaged him in the first place. Thinking about it was getting him upset again. It made him think about how Feliks had nearly broken his nose; how Tatsuo's dog had come close tearing his arm off.

 _Why the hell did she have a dog here anyway? Yeah, I get she's the Ultimate dog whatever, but she seriously NEEDS the dog to prove that? Get over yourself. Also, for someone who's supposed to be the best at what she does, she doesn't really have much control over her mutt._

Angus started to feel the familiar stinging in his chest that he'd become accustomed to while being in this place. The same tightening of his throat and chest, the same tapping of his heel and bouncing of his leg. He quickly looked down at the base of the Lady Justice statue and saw small cracks had formed in it. Maybe it had happened when they moved it in place of the broken one? Sloppy work, but still impressive they'd replaced it at all.

 _ **Maybe you could use this…**_

Could he push it over? Maybe if he had something to help the process along. A sledgehammer, perhaps?

 _ **All you have to do is call someone out after you fuck up the base of the statue. Then you hide behind it, and you push it right over on top of 'em…**_

Angus shook his head in a feeble attempt to get the intrusive thoughts out of his head, but they were quickly replaced with Saibakuma's motive.

 _There's no way some random bear could have the power to expunge a criminal record._

 _ **The people who are behind all this are well prepared, and they're serious.**_

 _Someone could still come for us. People would notice if sixteen ultimate students just disappeared._

 _ **No one is looking for us! We would've heard something by now! For all we know this our punishment for what we've done!**_

Angus wobbled on his feet before catching himself on the statue. He didn't even know where he was. He could still be in the US, but he'd have no way of knowing. Maybe Japan? That was where Hope's Peak was, but he wasn't in Japan when he blacked out.

 _I'm trapped with a bunch of fucking strangers who have all apparently done some heinous shit._

 _ **Maybe the government decided this is a more entertaining way of dealing with scumbags then just leaving them in prison.**_

 _This isn't right. People wouldn't do this to each other. It's monstrous…_

 _ **We're well past that. It's happening, and there's nothing you can do about it.**_

Angus felt sick to his stomach. Bile was starting to build up in the back of his throat at the thought of being trapped for the rest of his life.

 _ **You can't just be stuck here. You still have work to do. Shit to atone for.**_

 _What can I do? There's no way out of here!_

 _ **Do what the bear says…**_

That was all Angus could handle. What little food he'd eaten came up in a short spurt of vomit. It wasn't a lot and it was mostly dry heaving, but it still felt like there were nails in his stomach. He dropped to his knees, holding onto the statue so as not to topple over. His head was throbbing; like he had a headband on too tight. He felt like his skull was going to pop.

 _ **You can't die here…**_

Angus covered his mouth, trying his best to stop anything else from coming up. In his haste to get back to his feet he ignored the bit of puke that had puddled onto the floor. The young man stood no chance against the small pile throw up as his boot met bile, causing him to slip forward and make head on collision with the tiled floor.

The boy's head was completely rattled, and there was a dull ringing in his ears. He let out a groan of agony as he rolled over onto his back. He kicked indignantly, but made no actual movement to get up.

 _This is it, Angus. This is your lowest point. It can't get any worse from here._

 _ **It could always get worse…**_

Angus would be damned if that wasn't the truth. If there was a god out there it was going out of its way to make sure he wasn't enjoying himself. The tightness in his chest was replaced with a very familiar feeling.

Hopeless. Complete and utter despair.

 _ **You're gonna die here. You can't kill any of these people. You're a waste.**_

 _I can't die here. I can't…_

 _ **Then do something! Be tactical about this. I'd say probably Joaquin and Beatrix trust you the most. You can use that…**_

Angus blinked a few times in a feeble attempt to stop the tears from forming in his eyes. This was the most defeated he'd felt since waking up in his cell. The thought of killing any one of his fellow captives made him feel sicker than he already felt. It made him want to hurl again.

As Angus lay on the floor, deeply contemplating whether or not to actually go to his room to sleep or just pass out where he was, he heard what sounded like if a cat could snicker.

Through Angus' hazy vision he saw a swirling mix of red and white hovering above him. He felt a weight land on his chest and knock the air out of him; the giggling never stopping.

With a cough and a wheeze Angus shoved the offending mass off of him. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. They adjusted to the light and he was finally able to see the person clearly.

In front of him was the Ultimate Jester simply known as Chaos. He wasn't wearing the white and black get up he'd been wearing earlier. Now he was wearing a red and white themed jester outfit and mask with hearts on the pant legs. The red and white mask he had on now somehow had on a wider smile then the black and white one he was originally wearing. The giddy boy was hopping from foot to foot, just delighted to be there.

"...Hello." Angus said quietly, trying to decide whether or not he was hallucinating.

Chaos continued to giggle as he took off his mask, his toothy mug and foggy eyes bare to the world.

"Uhm," Angus raised an eyebrow at the chortiling clown. Out of all the Ultimates that he was locked up with, he easily knew the least about Chaos. And it seemed that Chaos was fine with being an enigma.

"Angus is sad~," Chaos clapped, "Angus is sick~" he pointed down at the vomit while singing.

Angus groaned, rubbing some of the left over dribble off of his chin. "What do you want, kid?"

Chaos just giggled, "Can't sleep, sleep~ Too, too excited!" he chanted.

"Excited?" Angus questioned, shakily getting to his feet. "At least someone is enjoying themselves, I guess." he muttered.

"The bear has me excited~" Chaos jumped, the bells on his hat jingling, "I'm too excited to sleep."

Angus sneered down at the clown, "Don't tell me you're talking about that "motive"," he mocked in a high pitched voice.

The mention of the motive just seemed to get Chaos even more excited. His quite giggling now became full on cackling that threatened to wake everyone up. It was almost ear piercing with how loud it was. Angus winced and covered his ears.

"Shut it, will ya?!" he shouted. Surprisingly enough, Chaos stopped immediately after being told to do so. Leaving the two Ultimates in dead silence.

"You're scared, Angus~" Chaos chirped, now pacing circles around a VERY annoyed Angus. And he thought Ludivine was irritating? She felt like a distant memory at this point.

"I'm not scared, kid," he said through gritted teeth.

Chaos clearly wasn't listening as he continued to circle around him. "You're scared, you're scared~" he sang, now spinning counter clockwise wall circling around Angus in a clockwise direction. Angus was getting dizzy just thinking about spinning as much as Chaos was.

Angus shook his head, "Okay, bud," he said with a fake sweetness in his voice, "you're starting to piss me off. It's time to quit it now."

Once again, Chaos stopped when asked to. The abrupt halt of the jingling bells made Angus looked down at the grinning boy, who was now staring up at him.

"Pissed off enough for you to kill me?"

Angus' eyes widened in surprise. He was shocked into silence by Chaos' words. He didn't know how to respond. The boy just stared up at Angus with his unwavering shark tooth grin and spiraling lavender eyes.

"What was that?" Angus said, his voice cracking.

Chaos giggled again, "You could kill me~ That'd be exciting!" he laughed, never breaking eye contact with Angus.

"You," the arms dealer sputtered, trying to get his words out, "can't be s-serious."

"I'm as serious, serious as a guy like me could be, Angus." the smaller boy said with a dead tone in his voice.

 _This isn't right…_

 _ **He's offering his life to you…**_

 _There's nothing behind his eyes. No emotion…._

 _ **Opportunity is looking you in the face.**_

As Angus zoned out Chaos moved in closer and latched onto his leg. "Think of the mayhem; the _chaos~"_

For the second time that night, Angus pushed somebody to the ground. However this time, instead of a fully grown woman who was actually a few inches taller than him, it was 4'8" boy in a clown costume. He pried Chaos off of his leg and shoved him to the floor. Before the boy could even gather himself Angus planted his boot on his chest and kneeled down in front of him so as to be face to face. The faux smile he had on could've easily matched one of the jesters own.

"Listen to me, you little fucking maniac. As much as I'd like to wrap my hands around your fat throat and strangle the life out of you, I'm feeling generous tonight. Everybody is on edge, and the last thing people here need is you going around spouting off at the mouth about shit you've NO business talking about. Now I'm going to let you go, and then I'm gonna go to bed. However, don't mistake my mercy for weakness. If we were anywhere else I'd've happily smashed your FUCKING TEETH IN."

Angus dragged his foot off of Chaos' chest and took a step back. Without breaking eye contact with the Ultimate Jester he lifted his leg and brought his boot down on the boys mask. The flimsy plastic cracked easily, splitting it into two pieces. Angus let out a deep sigh before walking away.

"Don't make me have this conversation with you again."

As Angus walked away, he could swear he could still feel Chaos' eyes on him. His unblinking, unfeeling eyes.

And he'd swear he could still hear him giggling.

* * *

 _ **Ding dong, bing bong**_

Angus, once again, found himself awoken by the abrupt sound of a school bell.

" **Rise and shine, you filthy criminals! It's 9AM! Time to face a brand-new day!"**

Angus groaned and rubbed his eyes. He'd been in an out of sleep most of the night. It was difficult to become relaxed when every bump outside his room made him jump. He knew he was being paranoid, but it was hard not to be.

After a short shower he heard a knock at his door while he was getting dressed.

He was greeted by a tired looking Feliks and a well-rested Ludivine.

"To what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked sarcastically, leaning on his door frame.

Feliks nudged Ludivine, "Ludivine wanted to see if you wanted to come to breakfast with us." Feliks said with a smile, "It's good to see you on good terms."

Angus chuckled, "I wouldn't say we're on good terms, per say, but we are on speaking terms."

Ludivine folded her arms, "I'm hurt, Angus. I thought we made up."

Angus walked out of his room, shutting the door behind him. "Make me a bell pepper omelette with fontina and we'll call it even."

The three chatted quietly as they walked to the cafeteria. Angus noticed that his...sickness had been cleaned up. He decided to keep his little breakdown and chat with Chaos to himself. Whether or not Chaos would do the same remained to be seen.

The cafeteria was pretty baron. Most people must've just ignored the morning announcement. The only two people who were there were Ramsey and Tatsuo who were chatting at a table together. Ryucchi lay next to the table, lapping up water out of a dog bowl. The trio walked up to the table, greeted the others and sat down.

"Good morning to all." Ramsey said, a warm smile on his face. "I hope everyone slept alright."

"I was," Feliks muttered, rubbing his eyes, "before I was woken up by that durachit' of a bear."

Tatsuo took a bite from her apple, "You strike me as the type to sleep _too_ much, Feliks."

"How long've you two been up?" Angus asked. Tatsuo answered. "Not too long, but it hasn't been bad. Captain Crooner over here actually makes pretty decent conversation." she said, elbowing Ramsey in the ribs.

"Yes, well I should say the same to you, Ms. Hojo." Ramsey blused, pulling his hat over his face.

"Though I have to say," Tatsuo turned to the trio on the opposite side of the table, "if you told me to pick three people here who'd become close, it wouldn't be you guys."

"Close?" all three of them said in unison.

"Yeah, close," Tatsuo said, pointing at Angus and Ludivine, "I mean, you two were at each other's throats yesterday."

Ludivine chuckled and linked arms with Angus; very much against Angus' will.

"Maybe so, but that was yesterday. It's important to move forward with new friends. Wouldn't you agree, Angus?"

 _Don't give her what she wants, Angus. Remember your karma._

"Yep," Angus snipped, "and the best part about friends is that they respect each others personal bubbles." he said, yanking his arm away from Ludivine.

"Oh yes, I forgot," Ludivine said, putting a hand to her mouth, "I promised to dial back my teasing. I suppose I'll have to find somebody else to chat with." It took her not even a minute hone in on her next victim.

"How's your morning, Ramsey?"

Ramsey, still recovering from Tatsuo's assault, was caught off guard by Ludivine. "It's b-been fine, Ms. Dupont. Thank you for asking." he said, recovering.

"Why so nervous, Ramsey?" she asked, innocently, "You must perform on stage all the time, so why so nervous around us?"

Angus raised his eyebrow at her. This must be what it's like on the other side of the fence. The side that wasn't getting picked on. He liked it. He checked Ramsey's reaction and was surprised at what he saw.

Ramsey didn't look upset or nervous. In fact he didn't...have any emotion on his face. He seemed to have completely glazed over as he stared down at the table. Everyone looked at him in concern, but he didn't respond until Tatsuo elbowed him again.

With a start he almost leapt from his seat and nearly lost his hat. The life came back to his eyes as a nervous smile came onto his face.

"I-I'm sorry, Ms. Dupont. I didn't mean to get lost in my own head like that," he stammered, "but to answer your question. Being on stage is a lot different then meeting people one on one. That's a lot more personal than looking out into a crowd of people and moving from face to face. I find that a lot easier." he said, composing himself.

 _Little weird,_ Angus thought, _But who am I to judge when someone gets flustered because of Ludivine?_

"I am more the opposite," Feliks sighed, taking his cap off, "never enjoyed that much attention."

"Really?" Angus said, sarcastically, "You seemed like such a charmer when we first met."

Feliks cringed at the memory of him and Angus' first interaction. With a shake of his head he got to his feet. "I am going to make myself some coffee."

Ramsey got up too, "I'll join you, Mr. Dobrow. I haven't eaten yet."

"Oh, let tell me if there's any oatmeal, would you?" Ludivine asked. Both Angus and Tatsuo scoffed, but it was Angus who spoke up.

"They've got fucking every thing in there. I'm sure you'll find some oatmeal if you look hard enough."

"You be surprised. Some people overlook the small things."

Not even a minute passed after Ramsey and Feliks went into the kitchen before a scream echoed throughout the cafeteria. It sounded high pitched, but even still they could tell it was Ramsey. Everyone still at the table leapt to their feet, and even Ryucchi had gotten up.

"Vse! Idi syuda seychas!" Feliks shouted in Russian. The other three were in the kitchen in seconds.

"What the fuck is your problem!?" Tatsuo shouted. Ryucchi barked in agreement.

Feliks was leaning on the counter top, turned away from the group. Ramsey had dropped his cane, and his hat was on the floor. His face was as pale as a sheet, and he held his hands over his mouth, staring into the open pantry.

Angus was the first to act, moving past Ludivine and Tatsuo and pushing Ramsey out of the way to look into the pantry. What he saw made him freeze in place.

A body lay lifeless on the floor in a pool of blood. The corpse was covered by one of the metal shelves. It'd been knocked over on top of it. She was partially obscured, but Angus could see what he needed to see. Her eyes were still wide open.

The Ultimate Honey-trapper, Iroha Hori, lay dead. A harpoon lodged deep in her chest.

* * *

 **Happy New Year! I wanted to get this finished before the end of December, but a healthy mix of both procrastination and real life problems prohibited that from happening. If I had it my way there'd be a chapter out every other month, but I'm terrible so that doesn't happen.**

 **Anyway, a motive AND a murder in the same chapter? You bet. How do you like me now? The decision on the victim wasn't made lightly, and it actually hurt having to kill any of these characters. Then again it comes with the territory of Danganronpa, so I can't pretend like I didn't know what I was getting into.**

 **That's all I got for now, though. Hopefully by the time the next chapter comes out I'll've learned what it means to actually pace a story. Until next time.**


End file.
